Superstorm Sandy's Stunning Snow

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One of the most memorably bizarre aspects of Superstorm Sandy even ten years later isn't something normally associated with hurricanes.

S​andy will forever be remembered as the costliest and deadliest storm to hammer the Northeast in modern times. Its massive storm surge and high winds devastated parts of the Northeast Seaboard.

B​ut to some meteorologists, one of the most surreal parts of covering the storm was seeing the former tropical cyclone trigger a major snowstorm.

(Visit our Superstorm Sandy page for more coverage of the 10th anniversary.)

S​andy was the only tropical cyclone in which you could find a discussion of a snowfall forecast within each National Hurricane Center advisory as it drew closer to land.

The superstorm prompted the first blizzard warnings for the central Appalachians from western Maryland to far western Virginia late on the afternoon of Oct. 28, just over 24 hours before landfall while Sandy was still a hurricane.

A​s detailed nicely in by meteorologist Jonathan Belles, as Sandy approached the coast, colder air wrapped around the western side of its circulation. That air was just cold enough for snow, particularly at higher elevations.

Snow in itself is rare in hurricanes, but this marked Sandy’s transition from a hurricane to a type of storm you typically see attached to cold, warm and occluded fronts.

In essence, Sandy's core cooled, and its energy was being drawn more from the jet stream than from the ocean. That's why Sandy never "officially" made landfall as a hurricane in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012.

Regardless of what meteorologists called it, Sandy's winds, surge and other impacts were truly to the level of a "superstorm".

(​MORE: Why Sandy's Track Was Unprecedented)

The following afternoon, the weather map looked a bit upside down.

South to southwest winds from West Virginia were transporting colder - not warmer - air into western Pennsylvania. At the same time, warmer air was being pulled from northern New England into eastern Canada. Later that afternoon, Montreal reached 70 degrees.

E​pic Fall Snowstorm

While Sandy was hammering the coast with high winds and devastating storm surge flooding, the wintry side of Sandy was dumping heavy snow on the southern and central Appalachians, with blizzard conditions in some areas.  

Charleston, West Virginia, picked up 2 inches of snow in one hour, almost as much as their previous record for one October day. Their storm total of 10 inches set a new October record.

Bluefield and Elkins, West Virginia, each had their two snowiest October days on record Oct. 29 and 30.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency.

Vehicles were stranded on Interstate 68 in whiteout conditions, forcing a shutdown from just north of Morgantown, West Virginia, to the Maryland state line.

Roofs collapsed due to the weight of the snow in Nicholas County, West Virginia, east of Charleston.  

Garrett County, Maryland, dug out from over 2 feet of snow. Over 70% of the county lost power, and Ocean City, Maryland, suffered damage to the city's iconic dock.

The National Hurricane Center's final report on Sandy included a one-paragraph section regarding Sandy's "widespread heavy snow, exceptionally rare in association with a tropical cyclone or one having just lost its tropical characteristics."

More S​now After Sandy

If that wasn't enough, Winter Storm Athena brought snow and lingering cold to areas heavily damaged by Sandy just over a week later.

New York City reported 4.7 inches from the storm. More than 8 inches were reported on western Long Island.

Images from the Jersey Shore showed snow piled on debris left behind by Sandy a little more than a week earlier.

T​hat cold weather also proved to be deadly.

A​bout 50 deaths in the aftermath of Sandy were attributed to hypothermia, falls by senior citizens or carbon monoxide poisoning from improper use of generators or other cooking devices during long-lasting power outages in the cold weather that followed Sandy.

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