Marine High Wind — Sandy Hook Nj To Fenwick Is De 20 To 40nm, Atlantic North

2012-10-28 to 2012-10-29 · near Fenwick Island, Sandy Hook Nj To Fenwick Is De 20 To 40nm, Atlantic North

Wider weather episode

Post Tropical Storm Sandy produced hurricane force wind gusts on the area waters in the hours preceding and during its landfall in New Jersey. Storm force winds started during the evening of the 28th off of the Delaware coast and slowly spread to the north overnight and continued into the 29th. The highest winds occurred during the afternoon and evening of the 29th and rapidly diminished overnight as Sandy weakened which moved west and farther inland. The entrance to New York Harbor Buoy (a relatively new buoy) had record breaking seas of 32.5 feet. The Delaware Bay Buoy (about 19 miles east of Fenwick Island, Delaware) had seas that reached 24.5 feet. Waves along the Delaware coast were measured at 12 feet in Bethany Beach. For New Jersey, it was estimated waves reached 12 to 24 feet along the ocean front with the largest waves along Monmouth County.

Peak wind gusts included Peak wind gusts included 76 knots (88 mph) in Tuckerton (Ocean County), 76 knots (87 mph) at Sandy Hook (Monmouth County), 69 knots (79 mph) in Sea Girt (Monmouth County) and Barnegat Light (Ocean County), 67 knots (77 mph) at the Atlantic City Marina (Atlantic County) and the entrance to New York Harbor Buoy, 66 knots (76 mph) at the Delaware Bay Buoy, 65 knots (75 mph) in Cape May (Cape May County), 57 knots (66 mph) at Breakwater Harbor (Sussex County, Delaware) and Ship John Shoal Light in Upper Delaware Bay and 51 knots (59 mph) in Lewes (Sussex County, Delaware).

Tropical Storm Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on the 22nd of October. After drifting slowly southwest into the 23rd, Sandy turned to the north and intensified to a hurricane on the 24th just before making landfall in Jamaica during that afternoon. Hurricane Sandy continued to the north and intensified to a strong category two hurricane before making landfall again in Cuba shortly after Midnight EDT on the 25th. Hurricane Sandy emerged on the other side of Cuba during the morning of the 25th and proceeded to drift northwest as a category one or two hurricane as it moved through the Bahamas on the 25th and 26th. Overnight on the 26th, Hurricane Sandy (Category 1) started to move toward the north-northeast, a motion that continued into the evening of the 28th. From there, Sandy's motion became driven by two factors. An anomalously strong blocking ridge over the Canadian Maritimes prevented Sandy from escaping to the east. Simultaneously, an approaching and deepening extratropical trough was about to capture Sandy. The combination of the two, turned Sandy to the north overnight on the 28th and then to the northwest on the 29th. Hurricane Sandy received one last jolt of tropical energy as it passed across the Gulf Stream during the morning of the 29th. The lowest recorded central pressure of 940 millibars (27.76 inches) occurred when Category 1 Hurricane Sandy was about 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City at 2 p.m. EDT on the 29th. As Sandy continued to move northwest and interact with the mid latitude trough, its interaction continued to make it less tropical, but did not weaken it much. Sandy continued to make a harder turn to the left (west) and made landfall in Atlantic County as a post tropical storm in Brigantine City just north of Atlantic City at 730 p.m. EDT on the 29th. The estimated minimum central pressure was 945 millibars. The lowest recorded central pressure was 945.6 millibars at the Atlantic City Marina at 734 p.m. EDT. From there, Sandy continued to weaken or fill as it moved west. At 9 p.m. EDT, the low pressure system was in western Atlantic County and continued to move west-northwest. At 11 p.m. EDT, the post tropical storm (about 954 millibars) was located in southern Chester County. Post tropical storm Sandy continued to move west-northwest into Pennsylvania and weaken further.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.4530, -74.4770)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 418113. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.