Head in the Clouds: The 2012 Tropical Cyclone Summary

Today marks the end of 2012; it also marks the end of the 2012 Tropical Cyclone season. The season began with Tropical Cyclone Alenga in the South Indian Ocean on December 5, 2011 and ended with Tropical Storm Wukong on December 28, 2012. There have been a lot of notable storms this year in all basins, most notably in the Atlantic and Northwest Pacific (as usual). So, here is a summary of the most significant storms of the year, in my opinion, organized by basin. The number of storms listed for each basin is somewhat a reflection on the activity there, so the North Indian had only four storms, so it has just one entry. By contrast, the Northwest Pacific had twenty-seven storms, so it has four entries. The criteria used in making this list is primarily based on the human and economic damage due to a storm, followed by wind speed, central pressure, and storm size. Finally, any meteorologically or climatologically (i.e. records) interesting aspect is taken into consideration. In addition to these listed storms will be an “honorable mention” storm for each basin, which was in some way interesting, even though it might not have necessarily had a large impact. Due to its record breaking season, the Atlantic basin is covered last and is presented differently. Most of the images used were taken from Wikipedia, and the satellite images were originally captured by the MODIS instrument package on board the Aqua and Terra satellites.

SOUTH INDIAN

Alenga began the 2012 South Indian season in early December, 2011. By its unusually late end in June, the basin had witnessed 16 storms, 8 reached Tropical Cyclone strength (>64kts), and 2 reached category 3 (equivalent to a major hurricane).

Tropical Storm Irina:

29 FEB-10 MAR
MAX 60kts
Irina’s impact came not from particularly high winds, but from its track. While fluctuating between tropical storm and tropical depression status, Irina tracked right along the coast of Madagascar from its northern most point to its southwest. It also brought heavy rains to parts of Mozambique and South Africa. It was by far the Deadliest Tropical Cyclone of the season.

Cyclone Funso:

19-28 JAN
MAX 120kts
Category 4 Cyclone Funso was the second most intense storm of the South Indian season, as well as the second deadliest. Its largest impact was on Mozambique in the form of large floods after the storm stalled of its coast for over two days.

Cyclone Giovanna:
09-21 FEB
MAX 125kts
Giovanna was the strongest storm of the season and was highly resilient. Not only did it survive passing over Madagascar, it managed to regenerate and track around the island and nearly passed over its own track from days earlier.

Honorable Mention: Kuena:
06-07 JUN
MAX 50kts
Although only a medium strength tropical storm, Kuena is notable as being one of the most out of season storms on record, having formed about two months after the season’s official end.

SOUTH PACIFIC

The 2012 South Pacific season was very quiet, with only four storms. It didn’t begin until early February, but lasted until July.

Cyclone Jasmine:
04-15 FEB
MAX 115kts
Jasmine was a very long-lived, category four tropical cyclone that ended up affecting five different countries. Although no deaths were reported, significant damage occurred across a wide area, especially to crops.

Honorable Mention: Twentyone:
29-30 JUN
MAX 35kts
Tropical storm 21P was a short lived, but very late storm that formed just to the southeast of Papua New Guinea.

NORTHWEST PACIFIC

The Northwest Pacific was very active this year with 27 Tropical Cyclones, of which 16 reached Typhoon strength, and 5 of those reached Super Typhoon strength. These numbers are actually quite average, what made this year notable was in the details.

Super Typhoon Bopha:

25 NOV-09 DEC
MAX 140kts
Bopha formed very close to the equator late in the season. It became a category five storm while at only 7.4 degrees north, making it the second closest storm to the equator of that strength to exist on record. Bopha also became the strongest storm to ever make landfall on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. As of 12/31/12, it is responsible for over 1000 deaths and $900 million (2012 USD). It is now listed as the costliest Philippine typhoon.

Typhoon Haikui:
02-08 AUG
MAX 65kts
While only a category 1 storm, Haikui was by far the costliest storm of the year. It was also the third tropical cyclone to impact mainland China in a week’s time. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated and over 100 deaths were reported.

Super Typhoon Sanba:
10-17 SEP
MAX 150kts
Sanba holds the title of the world’s strongest Tropical Cyclone of 2012, with maximum winds of 150kts. Luckily, only a total of 6 people killed by Sanba, but it caused over $350 million (2012 USD). It was the fourth storm of the year to hit Korea, something that has not occurred for fifty years.

Typhoon Bolaven:
20-28 AUG
MAX 125kts
This large storm followed a somewhat similar path as Sanba but was considerably weaker. However, Bolaven is responsible for more damage with over 80 people lost and over $470 million (2012 USD) in damages. It is notable in that several times during its life multiple eyewalls could be observed from both satellite and ground radar.

Honorable Mention: Tembin:
19-30 AUG
MAX 115kts
Typhoon Tembin’s track is incredibly unique. It made landfall first on Taiwan but emerged back over water to the west of the island and managed to reorganize some. It drifted to the southwest and made a counter-clockwise loop while interacting with Bolaven, who was currently developing to the east. It began to move back towards Taiwan, but by the time it made a second landfall, it was under heavy shear due to outflow from Bolaven, which was now to its north-northeast. Once past Taiwan, Tembin accelerated northward and made landfall as a tropical storm over South Korea, just a few days after Bolaven had pasted through the region.

At this time, Tembin (bottom left) and Bloaven (top) were interacting with each other and affecting each other's movement

NORTHEAST PACIFIC

The Northeast Pacific basin had a relatively average year that began right on time and ended a little early. In all, 17 named storms formed, 10 of these became hurricanes, and 5 of these became major hurricanes.

Hurricane Carlotta:

14-17 JUN
MAX 90kts
This category two storm occurred in mid-June and ended up being the most destructive storm of the season, impacting much of coastal southern Mexico. One factor in how much damage it caused was that its track was nearly parallel to the coastline, bringing heavy rains to a large area. Carlotta is responsible for 7 deaths and over $107 million (2012 USD).

Hurricane Paul:
13-17 OCT
MAX 105kts
Paul was a category three major hurricane that significantly impacted the Baja California Peninsula. Although it had degenerated into a remnant low by the time it got to land (but never actually made landfall), it brought heavy rains across the southern peninsula triggering minor flooding and a few landslides. No one was killed, but over $15 million (2012 USD) of damage occurred.

Hurricane Emilia:
07-15 JUL
MAX 120kts
While Emilia never made landfall or caused any damage, it was the strongest storm of the season in the NE Pacific (and the Atlantic for that matter). What is really interesting is that the remnants of the storm persisted in a very disorganized area of rotation all the way across the Pacific and eventually helped form Typhoon Damrey.

Honorable Mention: Hector:

11-17 AUG
MAX 40kts
Hector never became anything more than a weak tropical storm, but its origins are rather interesting. A day before the Tropical Depression that would become Hector formed, Hurricane Ernesto had dissipated over southern Mexico. Ernesto’s remnants moved across Central America and as it emerged over the East Pacific it began to organize. A few hours later and what had been Ernesto was now Hector.

NORTH INDIAN

The North Indian Ocean basin has been particularly quiet this year without a single storm strengthening past tropical storm status. In fact, the first storm didn’t even form until late October. However, as usual, even weak storms have big impacts.

Tropical Storm Nilam:

29-31 OCT
MAX 55kts
Nilam formed in the Bay of Bengal and ended up significantly affecting southern India and Sri Lanka with widespread flooding. All told, 75 people died and over $55 million (2012 USD) in damages occurred.

Honorable Mention: Murjan:
24-25 OCT
MAX 35kts
This tropical storm, which formed in the Arabian Sea, made landfall in Somalia as a weak system. In a strange reversal from what is usually associated with tropical cyclones, this storm brought beneficial rains to parts of the region.

NORTH ATLANTIC

There is no easy way to classify the Atlantic basin’s eventful 2012 season. Instead, I’ll post an image and the name of each storm this season in the order of their formation. For a through summary of the season and all the interesting details I suggest the Wikipedia article on the season at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Atlantic_hurricane_season.