Seawater floods the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in New York on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. AP Photo.
Q. Was Hurricane Sandy a male or female name? Did it do enough destruction to have the name retired? Did the change from Hurricane to Superstorm negate the “hurricane” damage?
A. Hurricane Sandy was a female name, coming after Rafael in the 2012 storm names list. Experts expect the name to be retired, but those decisions aren’t made officially until the World Meteorological Organization’s Region IV committee holds its meeting in April.
The storm was, in fact, a hurricane – the largest ever seen, in fact – and was called a superstorm only due to the unusual circumstances of several storm cells merging into one.
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Date posted: December 5, 2012
User-contributed question by:
martyn hawkins
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