In a stunning spectacle of atmospheric violence, Superstorm Sandy roared ashore in New Jersey last night with sustained winds of 90 mph and a devastating storm surge that crippled coastal New Jersey and New York. Sandy's record size allowed the historic storm to bring extreme weather to over 100 million Americans, from Chicago to Maine and from Michigan to Florida. Sandy's barometric pressure at landfall was 946 mb, tying the Great Long Island Express Hurricane of 1938 as the most powerful storm ever to hit the Northeast U.S. north of Cape Hatteras, NC. New York City experienced its worst hurricane since its founding in 1624, as Sandy's 9-foot storm surge rode in on top of a high tide to bring water levels to 13.88' at The Battery, smashing the record 11.2' water level recorded during the great hurricane of 1821. Damage from Superstorm Sandy will likely be in the tens of billions, making the storm one of the five most expensive disasters in U.S. history.
Figure 1. Morning satellite image of Superstorm Sandy taken at 10 am EDT Tuesday, October 30, 2012. Image credit: NASA GSFC.
Figure 2. Sandy's storm surge (green line) at New York City hit 9' near 9 pm EDT, right when water levels due to high tide (blue line.) The total storm tide (red line) reached 13.88 above Mean Lower Low Water, an all-time record for NYC. Image credit: NOAA Tides and Currents.
Figure 3. Storm surge forced the Delaware River in Philadelphia to a crest of 10.62 feet at 4 a.m. EDT this morning, breaking the previous record of 10.50 feet set Apr. 17, 2011 and Nov. 25, 1950. Image credit: NOAA.
Sandy sets all-time low pressure records
Sandy's impact has been so severe over such a wide area that it is difficult to adequately document the event. I'll start with some of the major cities that set all-time low pressure records during Sandy, with the new record followed by the old record and date of occurrence (thanks go to wunderground weather historian Christopher C. Burt for putting this list together):
Atlantic City, NJ: 28.01"/948mb 28.37"/961mb 3/6/1932
Philadelphia, PA: 28.12"/953mb 28.43"/963mb 3/13/1993
Harrisburg, PA: 28.46"/964mb 28.62"/969mb 1/3/1913
Scranton, PA: 28.69"/971mb 28.72"/973mb 2/25/1965
Trenton, NJ: 28.31"/958mb 28.43"/963mb 3/13/1993
Baltimore, MD: 28.49"/965mb 28.68"/971mb 3/3/1932
Harrisburg, PA: 28.46"/964mb 28.62"/969mb 1/3/1913
Cities that came close to setting their all-time low pressure record:
Newark, NJ: 28.51"/965mb 28.45"/963 3/13/1993
New York, NY: 28.53"/966mb 28.38"/961mb 3/1/1914
Washington D.C. 28.63"/969mb 28.54/966mb 3/13/1993
Lynchburg, VA: 29.12"/986mb 28.84"/977mb 3/6/1932
Elkins, WV: 29.22"/989mb 28.85"/977mb 2/25/1965
Sandy's snows
Sandy's snows have clobbered the town of Davis, WV with an estimated 26 - 28" of snow. Most of the town is without power, and winds are blowing 20 - 30 mph with 40 mph gusts. Sandy brought the snowiest October day on record to both Elkins, WV (7" of snow) and Bluefield, WV (4.7".)
Video 1. Multiple trees fall during powerful gusts during Superstorm Sandy's landfall in New Jersey Monday evening (warming: foul language.)
There's so much more to say about Sandy--including how the storm may have been influenced by climate change--but I'll save this for later posts, as it's time to get something posted.
Angela Fritz has a 2:30 pm EDT post that discusses the latest on Sandy's impact and forecast.
Jeff Masters
Amazing waves at high tide and the storm is just beginning here in Seacoast NH!
Snow increasing in intensity.
Corn Neck Road, Block Island, RI (
JudyGray)
Part of the roof of my building ripped off during Hurricane Sandy and landed on two cars across the street
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I understand what KoritheMan is saying, and i agree that it is very hard to pinpoint global warming/climate change on any one event.
I also understand what he is saying when he says that the size was the only thing unprecedented... the flooding in NY could have happened with a handful of smaller storms of the same intensity had they hit under the right circumstances, and the rainfall wasn't unusual.
That being said, I think that it is interesting that the five largest Atlantic storms have all occurred in the post-1995 active period that we are in. And they have eclipsed the other largest storms by remarkable margins. Furthermore, four of the top five have been in the last 11 years.
We always hear about storms strengthening with climate change, and lasting further north, but I have never before heard anyone bring up the topic of significantly larger storms. I think that is something worth looking into over the next few seasons.
Storm Season Diameter
(mi) (km)
Sandy 2012 945 1,520
Igor 2010 920 1,480
Olga 2001 865 1,390
Lili 1996 805 1,295
Karl 2004 780 1,255
Well, there was this report, maybe this was who he was thinking of:
"...FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 26, 2012
CONTACT: Blair FitzGibbon : 202-503-6141 : blair@fitzgibbonmedia.com
Statement by Brad Johnson, campaign manager of Forecast the Facts and ClimateSilence.org:
“If the candidates won’t listen to the voters demanding they break their climate silence, maybe they will listen to Mother Nature’s October Surprise. We know the candidates will be asked about Hurricane Sandy, and will express their sympathy with those affected. They will rightly applaud the first responders, the compassion of neighbors, and the strength and resolve of the American people. But what their role as national leaders demands that they also do is explain that Hurricane Sandy is a true Frankenstorm, a monster created by man tampering with nature with oil, coal, and gas pollution..."
MTA photo of post flood debris in South Ferry Subway
The photo below was earlier
http://live.nydailynews.com/Event/Tracking_Hurric ane_Sandy_2?Page=38
I am not saying this statement is correct... but at least you should support your position with an honest and accurate quote as seen below:
-------------
Statement on Hurricane Sandy and Climate Silence
Brad Johnson, campaign manager of Forecast the Facts and ClimateSilence.org:
"If the candidates won't listen to the voters demanding they break their climate silence, maybe they will listen to Mother Nature's October Surprise. We know the candidates will be asked about Hurricane Sandy, and will express their sympathy with those affected. They will rightly applaud the first responders, the compassion of neighbors, and the strength and resolve of the American people. But what they should also do, what their role as national leaders demands that they do, is explain why this is happening.
"Hurricane Sandy is a true Frankenstorm, a monster created by man tampering with nature. It is a scientific fact that oil, coal, and gas pollution are fueling freakish climate disasters. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney need to be honest with voters: we have to stop poisoning our weather and start saving our future."
http://forecastthefacts.org/press/releases/2012/1 0/26/statement-hurricane-sandy-and-climate-silence /
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