hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

2012 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 19 storms · 19 May 2012–29 Oct 2012

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY132.6
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2012 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 19 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalAlberto: 19 May–22 May, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormBeryl: 27 May–30 May, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormChris: 19 Jun–22 Jun, peak 75 kt, Category 1Debby: 23 Jun–27 Jun, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormErnesto: 1 Aug–10 Aug, peak 85 kt, Category 2Florence: 3 Aug–6 Aug, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormHelene: 9 Aug–18 Aug, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormGordon: 15 Aug–20 Aug, peak 95 kt, Category 2Isaac: 21 Aug–1 Sep, peak 70 kt, Category 1Joyce: 22 Aug–24 Aug, peak 35 kt, Tropical stormLeslie: 30 Aug–11 Sep, peak 70 kt, Category 1Kirk: 28 Aug–2 Sep, peak 90 kt, Category 2Michael: 3 Sep–11 Sep, peak 100 kt, Category 3Nadine: 10 Sep–3 Oct, peak 80 kt, Category 1Oscar: 3 Oct–5 Oct, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormPatty: 11 Oct–13 Oct, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormRafael: 12 Oct–17 Oct, peak 80 kt, Category 1Sandy: 22 Oct–29 Oct, peak 100 kt, Category 3Tony: 22 Oct–25 Oct, peak 45 kt, Tropical storm

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Alberto–50Tropical storm9951,040
Beryl–60Tropical storm9922,260
Chris–75Cat 19742,810
Debby–55Tropical storm990520
Ernesto–85Cat 29733,000
Florence–50Tropical storm10021,780
Helene–40Tropical storm10043,450
Gordon–95Cat 29652,300
Isaac–70Cat 19653,520
Joyce–35Tropical storm1006900
Kirk–90Cat 29702,190
Leslie–70Cat 19684,290
Michael–100Cat 39641,960
Nadine–80Cat 19785,200
Oscar–45Tropical storm994850
Patty–40Tropical storm1005100
Rafael–80Cat 19695,550
Sandy–100Cat 39402,350
Tony–45Tropical storm10001,590

19 storms with an IBTrACS 2012 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 19 May 2012, last 29 Oct 2012.

Tropical storms19

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes10

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)2

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormMichael

100 kt · 115 mph / 185 km/h

Lowest pressure940 hPa

Sandy, 29 Oct 2012

Longest track record23.8 days

Nadine, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 2012 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 10 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 19 tropical storms, with 2 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season?

Michael, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 100 kt (Category 3) on 6 Sept 2012, 12:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 964 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 2012?

None. No storm in the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 19 May 2012 and the last on 29 Oct 2012, from 19 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season?

Chris, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 21 Jun 2012, 03:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 2012 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology