Publication Date November 27, 2012 | LiveScience

Superstorm Sandy: Facts About the Frankenstorm

United States
NOAA GOES-13 image of Sandy at 6:02 a.m. EDT Tuesday (Oct. 30). Photo: NOAA/NASA GOES Project
NOAA GOES-13 image of Sandy at 6:02 a.m. EDT Tuesday (Oct. 30). Photo: NOAA/NASA GOES Project

When hurricane hunter aircraft measured [Sandy's] central pressure at 940 millibars — 27.76 inches — Monday afternoon (Oct. 29), it was the lowest barometric reading ever recorded for an Atlantic storm to make landfall north of Cape Hatteras, N.C...Sandy's strength and angle of approach combined to produce a record storm surge of water into New York City. The surge level at Battery Park topped 13.88 feet at 9:24 p.m. Monday, surpassing the 10.02 feet record water level set by Hurricane Donna in 1960. New York Harbor's surf also reached a record level when a buoy measured a 32.5-foot wave Monday. That wave was 6.5 feet taller than a 25-foot wave churned up by Hurricane Irene in 2011