Superstorm Sandy - October 29 th 2012

Enclosure for station on Reynolds Channel at Point Lookout, looking west toward East Marina. Reynolds Channel at Point Lookout, NY ( ) This station is operated in cooperation with: Town of Hempstead Dept of Conservation & Waterways NYS Department of Environmental Conservation USGS REYNOLDS CHANNEL AT POINT LOOKOUT NY

October 28 th was a dry day

It was a bit cloudy.

Humidity fluctuated during the day and night.

The barometer was trending slightly down, but relatively steady.

The winds were consistently from the north, northeast.

and increasing

Gusts were also increasing.

The air temperature was cooling down during the day and as night approached.

Water temperature was steady, decreasing slightly as might be expected in the fall.

The USGS predicts the tides each day. Here you can see a pattern of higher and lower tides which correspond to the phases of the moon. Higher tides (Spring Tides,) occur at the new and full moon and lower (Neap tides,) occur at the quarter moons. October 27 was the beginning of a Spring tide cycle.

The high tide for Oct 29 th was predicted to be just above 3 feet at this site.

The actual tides on the 28 th, the day before the storm were higher than predicted.

Irene As we have seen, there was nothing drastically different in the weather the day before the Sandy. Similarly, in1938 when there was the most destructive storm on Long Island, there were no television or radio weather predictions. Long Islanders would have gone to bed perhaps believing that the next day would be a windy fall day. The barometer plummeted to a very low 972 mb (28.7 inHg) for Irene 1n 2011.

For Sandy …. during the night and day the barometric pressure dove to a record low of 966 mb (28.5 inHg) ….and then the sensor failed!

Sandy was not a big rain event for Long Island. Less than 5/8 of an inch fell over two days.

The winds swung from north, north east to easterly (90°) and then southerly (180°) during the storm and then westerly (270°) the next days.

Wind speed topped off below hurricane levels (64 knots or 74 mph) during the storm.

Air temperatures increased with the south easterly winds moving up the coast. (meter failed)

Water temperatures plunged with the mass of ocean water entering the bay. (meter failed)

Relative humidity increased with the rain and tropical system. ( Meter failed)

It was a cloudy, rainy day.

Irene This was the tidal surge for Hurricane Irene, 2011, at Point Lookout. It reached 7 feet.

The majority of the damage from Sandy was due to the tidal surge which peaked on the evening of the 29 th at the 100 year flood elevation of 10 feet; 3 feet above Irene.

New York City subway station.

Monmouth NJ

Long Beach, Long Island 11/04/12 mccormickfoundation.org

Sand cleared from the streets in Long Beach after Sandy must first be sifted before being returned to the beach. (Nov. 14, 2012). Photo Credit Doug Kuntz

Changes in the landscape of the barrier beach (Fire Island) caused by Sandy.

Changes to the landscape on Dune Road, Westhampton (Oct. 30, 2012) Photo Credit: Doug Kuntz

Marsh houses in Hempstead bays (Nov. 9, 2012) Photo Credit: Doug Kuntz

Outfall from the Sandy damaged Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in Reynolds Channel, north of Long Beach

Photo taken on November 29,2012 shows cars damaged by super storm Sandy which were stored at the Calverton Long Island Camelot Industrial Park. Photo Credit: Doug Kuntz

Photo taken on November 29,2012 shows cars damaged by Super storm Sandy stored at the Calverton Camelot Industrial Park. As of Dec. 1 it was estimated that about 300,000 cars were damaged. Photo Credit: Doug Kuntz

Photo credit: Charles Eckert | Debris from superstorm Sandy is dumped at a temporary collection site at Nickerson Beach Park. (Nov. 28, 2012) Some of the Sandy household debris collected from Long Beach, New York. Plans called for It to be barged to upstate NY landfills.

The parking lot at Nickerson Beach Park in Lido Beach is used to dump debris before transfer to landfills. (Nov 29, 2012) Photo Credit: Doug Kuntz

Train lines to the Rockaways in NYC

Jones Beach Boardwalk looking east from the south side.

Fire area at Breezy Point in the Rockaways, NYC

Sandy (2012) vs Irene (2011) (Requires macro-enabled)

urricane-sandy-satellite-photos- and-videos-updating-live The complete story of Sandy- Great pictures and videos

Point Lookout Bay Point Lookout Sea Police Dock, Bay Park Hog Island Channel, Island Park Hudson Bay, Freeport East Rockaway Inlet; Atlantic Beach Nick’s Point, Merrick Seaman’s Neck Park, Seafordhttp:// Lindenhurst Connetquot Brook (N Sunrise Hwy) Buoy #1 South of Sayville Smith Point, Shirley Smith Point Shinnecock Inlet 33 miles south of Islip SSER related monitoring stations

This station is operated in cooperation with: Town of Hempstead Dept of Conservation & Waterways NYS Department of Environmental Conservation USGS REYNOLDS CHANNEL AT POINT LOOKOUT NY Reynolds Channel at Point Lookout, NY ( ) Additional graphs follow

62619 Est/ocean elev, NGVD Precipitation Wind speed Wind direction Temperature, air Temperature, water, monitor Relative humidity BarometricPressUncorrected Wind gust speed Wind gust direction Est/ocean elev, NGVD, tidal prediction Solar radiation down Specific cond at 25C, monitor Salinity, wu at 25C, monitor Dissolved oxygen, monitor Turbidity, Form Neph, monitor Sampling depth, monitor Chlorophyll, in situ, monitor 18 parameters are available at the website For the Point Lookout Station

For further information contact: Lou Siegel Adjunct Associate Professor Adelphi University and Dowling College Ecology, Earth and Marine Science Departments Science Coordinator, South Shore Estuary Reserve