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Like most hurricanes, Sandy started as a disorganized cluster of thunderstorms called a tropical disturbance, in this case over the Caribbean Sea. By feeding on the moisture evaporated from warm ocean water this disturbance strengthened and organized into a tropical cyclone. This storm then traveled northward. As Sandy moved parallel to the U.S. east coast it interacted with cooler air and an extratropical weather system and began to lose tropical characteristics. Eventually, a powerful high pressure system over Greenland produced a blocking pattern, the weather equivalent of a traffic jam, and prevented Sandy from continuing northward or turning eastward as other east coast hurricanes do. Instead, Sandy made an unprecedented turn westward, slamming into the east coast as a hybrid cyclone.

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11y ago

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