Hurricane Sandy 2012, Atlantic, United States

When the tropical depression formed, it was in an area of weak steering currents south of a ridge extending eastward from the Gulf of Mexico. Low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures were conducive to strengthening and rapid deepening. Late on October 22, a Hurricane Hunters flight observed winds of 40 mph (64 km/h) in a rainband, which prompted NHC to upgrade the depression to Tropical Storm Sandy. Outflow increased, while moist atmosphere helped the convection organize further. NHC noted that "remaining nearly stationary over the warm waters of southwestern Caribbean Sea is never a good sign for this time of year." Still, the cloud pattern initially remained largely the same. Early on October 24, an eye began developing. By that time, Sandy was moving steadily northward, drawn by a trough approaching from the northwest. At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on October 24, the NHC upgraded Sandy to hurricane status after the Hurricane Hunters observed flight-level winds of 99 mph (159 km/h). At the time, Sandy was about 65 mi (105 km) south of Kingston, Jamaica.
At about 3 p.m. EDT (1900 UTC) on October 24, Sandy made landfall near Kingston with winds of about 80 mph (130 km/h). Just offshore Cuba, Sandy rapidly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with 110 mph (175 km/h) winds. Shortly thereafter at 1:25 a.m. EDT (0525 UTC), the hurricane struck Cuba just west of Santiago de Cuba. At landfall, Sandy had a well-defined eye of over 23 mi (37 km) in diameter, and flight-level winds reached 135 mph (216 km/h). While over land, the structure deteriorated and the eye was no longer visible. After Sandy exited Cuba, dry air and increasing shear restricted the outflow and caused the structure to become disorganized. A mid-level low over Florida turned the hurricane toward the north-northwest. By early on October 26, most of the convection was sheared to the north of the center, and the size of the storm increased greatly. By the next day, the NHC remarked that Sandy was "showing characteristics of a hybrid cyclone... like an occluded frontal low." However, the system maintained a warm thermal core, and despite strong 60 mph (95 km/h) wind shear, the hurricane continued to develop thunderstorms due to good divergence from a nearby trough; the same trough turned Sandy toward the northeast. On October 27, Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm, after dry air became fully ingested into the mid- and upper-level circulations. Later that day, however, wind reports from the Hurricane Hunters indicated that Sandy re-intensified into a hurricane.
• Current storm information
As of 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) October 30, Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy is located near 40.8°N 79.2°W, about 50 mi (80 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Maximum sustained winds are 45 mph (72 km/h), with stronger gusts. Minimum central pressure is 988 mbar (hPa; 29.18 inHg), and the system is moving west-northwest at 10 mph (16 km/h).