On this day in 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, spreading heavy rain, powerful winds and devastating coastal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Heavy snow even fell at high elevations.
The storm was massive, its wind field reaching 1,100 miles in diameter, making it the largest Atlantic storm on record. Gusts surpassed 60 mph in the D.C. area, toppling trees and wires and cutting power to several hundred thousand customers.
A calendar day record 3.85 inches of rain fell in D.C. on Oct. 29 and the storm total was 4.84 inches. Much of the region received 5 to 8 inches of rain. Four deaths were attributed to the storm in Maryland and Virginia.
Additional reading on Sandy:
- Superstorm Sandy: Unraveling the mystery of a meteorological oddity
- 17 images that tell the story of Sandy slamming the East Coast
- The incredibly snowy side of Sandy
- Did Hurricane Sandy live up to the media hype? Yes, and then some …
- Sandy packed more energy than Katrina at landfall
- Spared brunt of the storm, D.C. region starts to return to normal
And on this day in 2011, a nor’easter brought a mix of rain and snow to the D.C. area. Just a trace of snow was recorded a Reagan National Airport, but half a foot of snow fell as close by as western Loudoun County in Virginia. Two inches fell in Leesburg, Virginia, and around an inch in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The high temperature in D.C. only reached 42 degrees, the coldest on record for the date. The storm was a bigger deal in the Northeast, where it produced historic amounts of snow for the time of year.
Additional reading:
- Historic October Northeast storm: Epic. Incredible. Downright ridiculous.
- A decade ago, an epic October snowstorm shut down the Northeast, exposing weakness of the power grid (from 2021)
Here are other notables from this date:
- Average high: 65
- Average low: 47
- Record high: 82 (1918)
- Record low: 30 (1976)
- Record rainfall: 3.85 inches (2012)
- Record snowfall: Trace (2011)
