Hurricane Sandy hits the East Coast on Oct. 29, 2012.

Polling average before: Obama +1

Final polling average: Obama +1

Result: Obama +4

Some pundits, mostly on the right, had confidently predicted Mitt Romney would win the 2012 election, and when he did not, a few blamed Sandy, pointing to a rally-around-the-flag effect for Obama after the superstorm made landfall. The theory makes some sense, and Obama did do better than the polls before Sandy indicated he would. But the final result was also better than his post-Sandy polls. That suggests the polls were simply off, rather than any sizable effect from Sandy. Obama held a small lead before and after Sandy hit. In the swing states, the polls were consistent in showing an Obama edge. They were also pretty consistent in the states that were directly affected by Sandy.