HurricaneTracks
Menu

All storm pages · 2012 Atlantic season

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · October 22 to October 29, 2012

Tropical-storm-force winds reached 552 miles from Sandy's center, the widest reach among the 364 Atlantic storms with wind-radius data (kept since 2004). Its hurricane-force winds extended 207 miles from the center, the widest hurricane-force field of the 171 Atlantic hurricanes measured this way since 2004. It has landfall records in 3 different places: Jamaica, Cuba and New Jersey. The name Sandy is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Sandy (2012) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N90°W80°W70°W60°WJamaica, 85 mphCuba, 115 mphNew Jersey, 80 mphPeak 115 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Sandy (2012) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120Oct 22Oct 23Oct 24Oct 25Oct 26Oct 27Oct 28Oct 29Oct 30Oct 31mph
  1. First record (low) 255 miles south of May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica
  2. Tropical storm 200 miles east of San Andrés, Colombia
  3. Hurricane 95 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica
  4. Landfall Jamaica: Category 1, 85 mph, 971 mb
  5. Major hurricane 10 miles west of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
  6. Peak, 115 mph 10 miles west of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; lowest pressure 940 mb
  7. Landfall Cuba
  8. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 45 miles south-southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey
  9. Landfall New Jersey: depression, 80 mph, 945 mb
  10. Last record 30 miles north of Youngstown, Ohio

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind115 mph · tied 281st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure940 mb · tied 116th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy13.7 · 391st of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone7.2 days · tied 540th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

It came ashore in Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane on October 25, 2012, with 115 mph winds.

In the 2012 season

04080120Sandy

Storm 18 of 19 in 2012, hurricane 10 of 10; it formed after Rafael and before Tony. Sandy produced 10% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy and ranks joint first by peak wind. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Banes, Holguín, Cuba2 mi110 mphOctober 25
Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba3 mi115 mphOctober 25
Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica11 mi90 mphOctober 24
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba12 mi115 mphOctober 25
Kingston, Jamaica12 mi85 mphOctober 24
Half Way Tree, Saint Andrew, Jamaica15 mi85 mphOctober 24
Port Morant, Saint Thomas, Jamaica18 mi85 mphOctober 24
Spanish Town, Saint Catherine, Jamaica23 mi85 mphOctober 24

Every storm within 50 miles of Kingston, Jamaica

Similar landfalls in Cuba

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Cuba came closest to Sandy's 115 mph:

All 56 storms with a landfall record in Cuba

Also peaked at 115 mph

Of 63 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Rina (2011)966 mb, landfall in Quintana Roo
  • Otto (2016, Atlantic)975 mb, landfall in Nicaragua
  • Lee (2017)962 mb, no landfall record
  • Ophelia (2017)959 mb, landfall in Ireland