Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Formed | October 22, 2012 |
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Dissipated | November 2, 2012 |
(Extratropical after October 29) | |
Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 115 mph (185 km/h) |
Lowest pressure | 940 mbar (hPa); 27.76 inHg |
Fatalities | 233 total |
Damage | $68.7 billion (2012 USD) (Fourth-costliest hurricane in U.S. history) |
Areas affected | Greater Antilles, Bahamas, most of the eastern United States (especially the coastal Mid-Atlantic States), Bermuda, eastern Canada |
Part of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season |
Hurricane Sandy was an Atlantic tropical cyclone which affected parts of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012, and became the largest Atlantic hurricane in diameter, with winds spanning 1,100 miles (1,800 km). It made landfall on the East Coast of the United States and Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia). Sandy was the eighteenth tropical cyclone, eighteenth named storm, and tenth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22. It quickly got bigger and stronger after becoming a tropical depression. It was then upgraded to a tropical storm six hours later. Sandy moved slowly northward toward the Greater Antilles and got stronger. On October 24, Sandy made landfall in Jamaica and was upgraded to a hurricane. Sandy made a second landfall in Cuba, where it became a Category 3 hurricane.