sign in sign up
<<
Home , Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Sandy hits the northeast coast of the USA

Joanne Camp, James Cotton and Julian Heming Met Office

Background

Sandy was the 18th tropical storm and the 10th hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic season and became one of the most significant storms in northeast US history. The storm resulted in 185 fatalities (at least 65 of those in the Caribbean) and caused over $50 billion in damage, making it the second most costly hurricane in US history, behind in 2005 (see the case study Hurricane "Katrina" hits coast of USA, 29 August 2005).

Sandy made on the eastern seaboard of the USA, bringing strong winds, torrential rain, blizzards and a significant along the Mid-Atlantic and northeast coasts. The most notable aspect of the storm was its size, which resulted in widespread destruction affecting 24 US states.

During its lifecycle, was closely monitored by geostationary satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and also from several polar orbiting satellites operated by NOAA, EUMETSAT and other space agencies.

History

Tropical Storm Sandy developed from an area of low pressure in the Caribbean to the south of Jamaica on Monday 22 October 2012. The storm rapidly intensified over warm waters and in a region of low wind shear and was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane (Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) on Wednesday 24 October. Hurricane Sandy was observed by NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite (see Figure 1; 24 October 2012, 1445 UTC) showing the formation of an shortly before making landfall near Kingston, Jamaica, with winds of 80 mph.

After leaving Jamaica, Sandy started to strengthen and on Thursday 25 October made a second landfall in Santiago de , in eastern Cuba, as a category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph. The passage of Hurricane Sandy as it crossed Cuba was captured by NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite (see Figure 2; 25 October 2012) revealing areas of deep convection around the eye.

Sandy then tracked slowly northwards, passing through . During this time Sandy started to encounter more unfavourable conditions and briefly weakened to a tropical storm before re-intensifying back up to a category 1 hurricane. Even by this stage, the wind field from Sandy was starting to expand and tropical-storm force winds (39-73 mph) were being recorded up to 450 miles from the storms centre (NHC, 2012). The huge size of Hurricane Sandy was captured by GOES-13 (Figure 3; 26 October 2012, 1415 UTC). A well-defined band of cloud can be seen approaching from the west, marking a powerful later to merge with Hurricane Sandy.

By Saturday 27 October, Sandy had started to track to the northeast, steered by the upper- level low over the eastern US. The wider view from GOES-13 (see Figure 4; 28 October 2012, 1745 UTC) shows the outer circulation of Hurricane Sandy already interacting with the long line of cloud associated with the cold front. A close-up view of Sandy off the southeast coast of the US was also captured by NASA’s Terra satellite (see Figure 5; 28 October 2012, 1600 UTC). The intense outer bands were already reaching the Mid-Atlantic coast, causing gusty wind and heavy rain across North Carolina and parts of Virginia.

Sandy continued tracking north-eastward until it encountered a ridge of high pressure situated over Greenland/Atlantic , which gave the storm an unusual turn to the left and accelerated it toward the US coast.

As Sandy approached the northeast coast of the USA, the warm moist air circulating within the hurricane met the cold air spreading south into the north-eastern USA from Canada. The interaction with the cold air gave the storm additional energy, allowing it to strengthen and expand even further. Sandy was now transitioning from a warm core to a cold core system (a post-tropical storm) more akin to a Nor’easter.

By Monday 29 October, Sandy had intensified into a strong category 1 hurricane with winds of 90 mph and the wind field measured over 1000 nautical miles in diameter. The storm had been given the nickname “Superstorm Sandy”. As Sandy approached the US East coast it was observed by EUMETSAT’s Metop-A polar orbiting satellite (see Figure 6 and Figure 7; 29 October 2012, 1416 UTC). The Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) instrument on Metop-A can be used to retrieve estimates of 10m ocean surface (10m) winds and at this time the most intense winds were found to be south/southeast of the storm centre, with average wind speeds of just over 30 m/s (67 mph). The low level circulation around the storm is also clearly captured.

Sandy was classified as a post-tropical storm just shortly before landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday 30 October. The large size of the storm, which covered 1.8 million square miles, from the Mid-Atlantic to the Valley, into Canada and New England (NASA 2012a), was captured by GOES-13 (Figure 8; 30 October 2012, 1002 UTC).

After landfall Sandy rapidly weakened as it headed west across and was declared a remnant low by Wednesday 31 October. The remains of the storm over the , New England and Canada were observed by GOES-13 satellite a day later (Figure 9; 1 November 2012, 0531 UTC).

Impact of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean

Hurricane Sandy caused widespread devastation across the Caribbean islands of Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic: thousands of farms were damaged and large areas of staple crops were destroyed. In Haiti alone, 1000 acres of crops were lost and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding which killed livestock and left around 200,000 people homeless (British Red Cross, 2012).

The intensity of rainfall across the Caribbean was captured by NASA's TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite (see Figure 10; 25 October 2012, 1425 UTC). Rainfall rates of up to 20–40 mm per hour (coloured in green and blue) were recorded close to the centre of the storm and in an intense rainband crossing Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The heaviest rainfall (> 50 mm (2 inches) per hour) was occurring in the Dominican Republic (coloured in red) at the time the image was taken.

Impact of Sandy on the east coast of the US

Sandy brought torrential rain, strong winds, blizzard conditions and a record storm surge to many areas along the Mid-Atlantic and northeast coast of the US, with the greatest damage to City and northeast New Jersey.

Overall, over 50 million people were thought to be affected by the storm (BBC 2012a). In New York City 375,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas and the New York Stock Exchange was closed due to ‘adverse ’ for the first time in 27 years (BBC 2012b). Along the US east coast, an estimated 15,000 flights were cancelled and many airports were closed (BBC 2012a). A was declared in 9 US states.

The greatest impact from Sandy was the storm surge, which rose to over 14 ft (4.3m) at Bergen Point, New Jersey. Much of the coastline was inundated with seawater (BBC 2012e) and many houses along the were damaged or washed away (NASA 2012b). An aerial view of the town of Mantoloking, located just to the north of where Sandy made landfall, was provided by NOAA’s Remote Sensing Division (see Figure 11; 31 October 2012). The main bridge, which connects the island to the mainland, is partially underwater and an entire section of Route 35 (Ocean Boulevard) has been washed away (NASA 2012b).

Sandy also caused a record surge of seawater in New York City (BBC 2012e), flooding many of the low-lying streets and part of the subway system. Winds of over 80 mph also brought down trees and caused major damage to buildings (BBC 2012c). In the borough of Queens, more than 100 homes were damaged or burnt down as fires broke out due to ruptured gas pipes (BBC 2012c).

Another significant impact from Sandy was the loss of power which occurred as floodwaters rose and flying and falling trees knocked down power lines. The scale of the blackouts in New York City, particularly in lower Manhattan and the town of Rockaway Beach, Long Island was captured by NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite (see Figure 12; 1 November 2012, 0652 UTC). The coast of New Jersey, including the town of Mantoloking as shown in Figure 11, is shrouded in darkness. It is estimated that 8.5 million people from Maine to South Carolina, and as far west as Ohio, lost power because of the storm (NASA 2012c).

Figure 1. GOES-13 true-colour image of Hurricane Sandy at 1445 UTC on 24 October 2012. Credit: NOAA. http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail2.php?MediaID=1218&MediaTypeID=1

Figure 2. Hurricane Sandy as captured by the Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.7 µm day/night band early in the morning on 25 October 2012. CREDIT: NOAA/NASA http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/700805main_20121026_Sandy-NPP_full.jpg (from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html)

Figure 3. GOES-13 true-colour image of Hurricane Sandy at 1415 UTC on 26 October 2012. CREDIT: NASA GOES Project http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/700874main_20121026_Sandy-GOES_full.jpg (from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html)

Figure 4. GOES-13 true-colour image of Hurricane Sandy at 1745 UTC on 28 October 2012. CREDIT: NASA Earth Observatory. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=79553

Figure 5. Terra MODIS image of Hurricane Sandy Terra at 1600 UTC on 28 October 2012. Credit: LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC/Michael Carlowicz. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=79548

Figure 6. Metop-A AVHRR image of Hurricane Sandy hitting the US East coast at 1416 UTC on 29 October 2012. Credit: EUMETSAT http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SEMBCI52Q8H_index_1.html

Figure 7. Metop-A ASCAT scatterometer winds (10m) at 1416 UTC on 29 October 2012 overlain on a IR image from GOES-13. Observations contaminated by land and those flagged by KNMI quality control have been removed. Credit: Met Office/OSI SAF

Figure 8. GOES-13 true-colour image of post-tropical storm Sandy at 1002 UTC on 30 October 2012. CREDIT: NOAA/NASA GOES Project.

Figure 9. GOES-13 true-colour image of the post-tropical storm Sandy over the Great Lakes at 0531 UTC on 1 November 2012. Credit: NASA GOES Project http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/703383main_20121101_Sandy-GOES_full.jpg (from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html)

Figure 10. Rainfall associated with Hurricane Sandy as captured by NASA's TRMM satellite at 1425 UTC on 25 October 2012. TRMM/TMI rainfall is overlain on a Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) image. Credit: SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/700876main_20121026_Sandy-TRMM1_full.jpg (from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html)

Figure 11. An aerial view of the coastal town of Mantoloking, New Jersey on 31 October 2012. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory, NOAA Remote Sensing Division http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=79622

Figure 12. Blackout in New Jersey, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania as captured by the Suomi NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) 0.7 µm day/night band at 0652 UTC on 1 November 2012. CREDIT: NASA Earth Observatory, Jesse Allen and Rob Simmon. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=79589

References

BBC (2012a). US flights cancelled by storm. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20133937

BBC (2012b). Hurricane Sandy to close US markets for a second day. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20120344

BBC (2012c). New York devastation mapped. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada- 20131303

BBC (2012d). Sandy: New Jersey before and after images. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world- us-canada-20154472

BBC (2012e). Storm Sandy causes severe flooding in eastern US. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20133158

British Red Cross (2012). Hurricane Sandy: why it was so damaging for Caribbean communities. Found online 5/11/12. http://blogs.redcross.org.uk/emergencies/2012/11/hurricane-sandy/

NASA (2012a): Hurricane Sandy (Atlantic Ocean). http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html

NASA (2012b). A changed coastline in Jersey. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=79622

NASA (2012c). Suomi NPP Satellite Captures Hurricane Sandy's Mid-Atlantic Blackout. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/news/sandy-blackouts.html

NHC (2012). Tropical Storm Sandy advisory number 20. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2012/al18/al182012.public.020.shtml