Hurricane Sandy was one of the most deadliest and destructive hurricane. This hurricane was named “Superstorm Sandy” because of its power and effects that it had. Adding up to all the damages this hurricane made, it was considered the second most costliest hurricane in the United States History, which was calculated to be over $68 million dollars in 2013. This storm became the largest hurricane on Atlantic on record. There were at least 286 people killed along the path of the storm in seven countries. According to Chris Davis, a scientist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo, “the main reason is that Sandy is morphing from a tropical cyclone to an extra-tropical cyclone. Extra-tropical cyclones, or those outside the tropics, tend to be significantly larger than tropical ones. Hurricane Sandy as a tropical cyclone, fueled by warm water, warm, moist air and the convection these phenomena can create are huge. These hurricanes can be likened to heat engines, transferring heat from the surface of the ocean to higher in the atmosphere. By contrast, extra-tropical cyclones are driven by a difference in temperatures over a wide area-cold air to the northwest. warm air to the southeast, which then swirls together. This process is most efficient over huge distances. Sandy is progressing into an extra-tropical cyclone as it gets farther north, and tapping into the power of jet stream, which ferries air from west to east over North America. The jet stream is powered by this temperature difference between air masses”. While Sandy is still considered as being a tropical hurricane, its also deriving power from the movement of warm air to the north and cold air to the south.According to wikipedia, “Sandy developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, it became strong really quickly so after six hours, Sandy was upgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy. Hurricane Sandy moved slowly northward toward the Greater Antilles and gradually intensified. On October 24th, Sandy became a hurricane, made a landfall near Kingston, Jamaica re-emerged a few hours later into the Caribbean Sea and strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane. On October 25th, Sandy hit Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane. Early on October 26th, it moved throught the Bahamas. On October 27th, Sandy Briefly weakened to a tropical storm but then it regained power unto a Category 1 hurricane.” According to NCAR senior climatologist Kevin E. Trenberth “The answer to the oft-asked question on whether an event is caused by climate change is that it is the wrong question. All wether events are affected by climate change because the environment in which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be.” K. Trenberth agrees that Hurricane Sandy was formed because of “natural variability” but includes that it was “enhanced by global warming”. One of the global warming effects that contributed to the power of Hurricane Sandy was the “abnormally warm sea surface temperature offshore the East Coast of the United States–more than 3 degrees Celsius above normal, to which global warming had contributed 0.6 degrees celsius. As the temperature of the atmosphere increases, the capacity to hot water increases, leading to stronger storms”. According to Wikipedia, “as they move north, Atlantic hurricanes are forced east and out of the sea” but because the pattern was blocked by a ridge of “high pressure” the storm wasn’t able to move out of the sea.”Hurricane Sandy is officially listed as the largest hurricane to have formed in the Atlantic Basin, according to the National Hurricane Center, as it reached 1,000 miles in diameter.” Even though Hurricane Sandy only had a Category 1 hurricane, Sandy’s impact was predicted to be even worst because of the cold front.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-largest-hurricane_n_2045163.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy
http://www.livescience.com/24356-why-is-hurricane-sandy-so-big.html
