Hurricane Sandy was the costliest natural disaster in the history of New Jersey, with economic losses to businesses of up to $30 billion. The most intense storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. For days ahead of its eventual landfall, the hurricane was expected to turn toward New Jersey, as anticipated by tropical cyclone forecast models and the National Hurricane Center (NHC). On October 29, Sandy lost its characteristics of a tropical cyclone and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone while approaching the New Jersey coast. About two and a half hours later, the former hurricane moved ashore New Jersey near Brigantine in Atlantic County, just north of Atlantic City, producing wind gusts as strong as 91 mph (144 km/h).