Tropical cyclones in 2012

During 2012, tropical cyclones formed within seven different tropical cyclone basins, located within various parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the year, a total of 128 tropical cyclones had formed this year to date. 85 tropical cyclones had been named by either a Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) or a Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC).

Tropical cyclones in 2012
Year summary map
Year boundaries
First system	06U and Chanda
Formed	January 5, 2012
Last system	Dumile
Dissipated	January 5, 2013
Strongest system
Name	Sanba
Lowest pressure	900 mbar (hPa); 26.58 inHg
Longest lasting system
Name	Nadine
Duration	24 days
Year statistics
Total systems	128
Named systems	85
Total fatalities	3,248 total
Total damage	$93.81 billion (2012 USD)
Related articles 2012 Atlantic hurricane season 2012 Pacific hurricane season 2012 Pacific typhoon season 2012 North Indian Ocean cyclone season 2011–12 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season 2012–13 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season 2011–12 Australian region cyclone season 2012–13 Australian region cyclone season 2011–12 South Pacific cyclone season 2012–13 South Pacific cyclone season
Other years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Satellite photos of the 24 tropical cyclones worldwide that reached at least Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson scale during 2012, from Funso in January to Freda in December.
Among them, Sanba (first image in the third row) was the most intense, with a minimum central pressure of 900 hPa.

The most active basin in the year was the Western Pacific, which documented 25 named systems, while the North Atlantic saw its fifth-most-active season on record, tied with 1887, 1995, 2010, and 2011. Conversely, the Eastern Pacific hurricane season experienced an average number of cyclones reaching tropical storm intensity, numbering 17 respectively. The least-active basin of the year was the North Indian Ocean, which had a late start with its first system forming in October. Activity across the southern hemisphere's three basins—South-West Indian, Australian, and South Pacific—was spread evenly, with each region recording seven named storms apiece. So far, twenty-four Category 3 tropical cyclones formed, including three Category 5 tropical cyclones in the year. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2012 (seven basins combined), as calculated by Colorado State University was 740.5 units.

The strongest tropical cyclone was Typhoon Sanba, which strengthened to a minimum barometric pressure of 900 mbar (hPa; 26.58 inHg) before striking South Korea. The costliest tropical cyclone of the year was Hurricane Sandy, which caused $68.7 billion (2012 USD) in damages after striking the Caribbean and United States. The deadliest tropical cyclone of the year was Typhoon Bopha which caused widespread destruction on Mindanao, leaving thousands of people homeless and killing 1,901 people.

Global atmospheric and hydrological conditions

The Atlantic Ocean began an organization favorable to the sea surface temperatures, while the Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean began on unfavorable conditions due to dissipation of the 2010–12 La Niña event in April 2012. During the month of May to November along the Pacific hurricane season a favorable organization began due to the sea surface temperatures and the formation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation.

Summary

Nineteen tropical cyclones formed in the Atlantic hurricane season, the third-most active in history with previous 1887, 1995, 2010 and 2011 seasons. On East Pacific and Central Pacific, a total of 17 named storms formed during the season.

Systems

A total of 132 systems formed globally in the year with 52 of them causing significant damage, deaths, and/or setting records for their basin.

January

Cyclone Funso

January was the most active month of the year with 21 tropical cyclones forming, However, only six were named by specific tropical cyclone naming agencies. Intense Tropical Cyclone Funso produced flooding rains as it looped in the Mozambique Channel, killing at least 21 people, soon after Subtropical Depression Dando killed 10 people across southern Africa.

Tropical cyclones formed in January 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
06U	January 5	Unspecified	Unspecified	Timor	None	None
Chanda	January 5–10	75 (45)	992	Madagascar	None	1
03F	January 7–8	Unspecified	1001	Tonga	None	None
04F	January 8–9	Unspecified	1000	French Polynesia	None	None
06F	January 8–10	Unspecified	1000	Niue	None	None
Heidi	January 9–13	150 (90)	960	Western Australia	None	None
Dando	January 10–18	85 (50)	992	Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland	None	10	[1]
08U	January 13	Unspecified	Unspecified	None	None	None
TD	January 13–14	Unspecified	1006	Malaysia	None	None
Ethel	January 17–22	100 (65)	972	Rodrigues	None	1	[2]
Funso	January 17–28	205 (125)	925	Mozambique, Malawi	None	36	[3]
06F	January 20–24	Unspecified	1001	Fiji	$17.2 million	8
09U	January 21	Unspecified	Unspecified	None	None	None
10U	January 22–29	55 (35)	993	Northern Territory, Queensland	None	None
Iggy	January 22–February 3	110 (70)	970	Indonesia, Western Australia	None	16	[4]
07F	January 25–February 2	55 (35)	994	Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia	None	None
08F	January 26–28	Unspecified	1001	Fiji	None	None
09F	January 30–31	55 (35)	998	Vanuatu, Fiji	None	None

February

Cyclone Giovanna

A total of nine tropical systems of all intensities were monitored during February 2012, of which five developed further and were named by the various warning centres. Intense Tropical Cyclone Giovanna was a powerful tropical cyclone that affected Madagascar. Giovanna is still blamed for 33 deaths along the Madagascar coast, and it is the first intense tropical cyclone to impact Madagascar, since Cyclone Bingiza in February 2011.

Tropical cyclones formed in February 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
Jasmine	February 1–19	195 (120)	937	Northern Territory, Queensland, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Tonga	None	None
10F	February 2–6	35 (25)	991	Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga	None	None
Cyril	February 5–8	95 (60)	985	Fiji, Tonga	None	None
Hilwa	February 5–22	75 (45)	993	Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Rodriges	None	None
Giovanna	February 7–22	195 (125)	935	Mauritius, Réunion, Madagascar	None	35	[5][6]
10F	February 13–17	Unspecified	1005	New Caledonia, Vanuatu	None	None
01W	February 17–21	55 (35)	1004	Philippines	None	None
Irina	February 25–March 12	95 (60)	978	Madagascar, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa	None	77
12	February 29–March 3	55 (35)	996	None	None	None

March

Cyclone Lua

A total of twelve tropical systems of all intensities were monitored during March 2012, of which four developed further and were named by the various warning centres. Cyclone Lua affected a sparsely populated region of Western Australia.

Tropical cyclones formed in March 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
14U	March 3–7	Unspecified	1000	Western Australia	None	None
Koji-Joni	March 5–11	95 (60)	978	None	None	None
Lua	March 9–18	155 (100)	935	Western Australia	$230 million	None	[7][8]
17U	March 12–22	55 (35)	993	Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland	None	None
14F	March 16–18	Unspecified	1005	New Zealand	None	5
15F	March 19–20	Unspecified	1004	New Caledonia	None	None
16F	March 22–27	Unspecified	1003	Wallis and Futuna, Fiji	None	None
TD	March 24	Unspecified	1008	Philippines	None	None
17F	March 25–28	Unspecified	1000	Fiji	None	None
Pakhar	March 26–April 2	95 (60)	1000	Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand	$48.1 million	9	[9]
Daphne	March 29–April 3	100 (65)	985	Vanuatu, Fiji	None	5
18F	March 30–31	Unspecified	1004	Vanuatu	None	None

April

Cyclone Daphne

A total of 4 tropical cyclones formed during this month, making this month the least active of 2012. None of these tropical cyclones were tropical storm strength or higher, thus making Tropical Cyclone Daphne, which was formed in March as the strongest tropical cyclone of this month.

Tropical cyclones formed in April 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
TD	April 8–11	55 (35)	1000	None	None	None
20F	April 9–11	Unspecified	1009	New Caledonia	None	None
19U	April 16–25	Unspecified	1005	Papua New Guinea, Northern Territory, Queensland, Indonesia, East Timor	None	None
TD	April 28–30	Unspecified	1008	Palau, Philippines	None	None

May

Hurricane Bud

Tropical cyclones formed in May 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
19S	May 7–14	55 (35)	996	Indonesia, East Timor	None	None
Aletta	May 14–19	85 (50)	1000	None	None	None
Alberto	May 19–22	95 (60)	995	Southeastern United States	None	None
Sanvu	May 20–27	110 (70)	975	Guam, Marina Islands	$20 thousand	None
Bud	May 20–26	185 (115)	961	Western Mexico	Minimal	None
Beryl	May 26–30	110 (70)	992	Cuba, The Bahamas, Southeastern United States, Florida	Minimal	None
Mawar (Ambo)	May 31–June 6	140 (85)	960	Philippines, Japan	None	3

June

Typhoon Guchol

Tropical cyclones formed in June 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
Kuena	June 3–8	85 (50)	994	None	None	None
Guchol (Butchoy)	June 10–20	185 (115)	930	Caroline Islands, Philippines, Japan	$100 million	3
Carlotta	June 14–16	175 (110)	973	Southwestern Mexico	$12.4 million	7
Talim (Carina)	June 16–21	95 (60)	985	China, Taiwan	$356 million	1
Chris	June 18–22	140 (85)	974	Bermuda, Atlantic Canada	None	None
Debby	June 23–27	110 (70)	990	Cuba, Central America, Southeastern United States (Florida), Bermuda	≥ $250 million	7 (3)
Doksuri (Dindo)	June 25–30	75 (45)	992	Philippines, Taiwan, China	$418 thousand	None	[10]
20U	June 29–July 1	45 (30)	993	Papua New Guinea	None	None

July

Typhoon Vicente

July was slightly active with only seven tropical cyclones being named, with all of them being named.

Tropical cyclones formed in July 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
Daniel	July 4–12	185 (115)	961	None	None	None
Emilia	July 7–15	220 (140)	945	None	None	None
Fabio	July 12–18	175 (110)	966	Baja California Peninsula, California, Western United States	None	None
Khanun (Enteng)	July 14–19	95 (60)	985	Japan, Korea	$11.4 million	89
Vicente (Ferdie)	July 18–25	150 (90)	950	Philippines, China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma	$324 million	32
Saola (Gener)	July 26–August 4	130 (80)	960	Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, China	$2.95 billion	86	[11][12]
Damrey	July 27–August 4	130 (80)	965	Japan, China, South Korea	$4.37 billion	48

August

Typhoon Bolaven

Tropical cyclones formed in August 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
Haikui	August 1–11	120 (75)	965	Japan, Philippines, China	$5.92 billion	115	[13]
Ernesto	August 1–10	155 (100)	973	Windward Islands, Jamaica, Central America, Yucatán Peninsula, Veracruz	$252.2 million	7 (5)
Florence	August 3–6	95 (60)	1002	Cape Verde	None	None
Kirogi	August 3–10	95 (60)	990	Japan	None	None
Gilma	August 7–11	130 (80)	984	None	None	None
TD	August 9–11	Unspecified	1008	None	None	None
Helene	August 9–18	75 (45)	1004	Windward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Central America, Mexico (Tamaulipas)	> $17 million	2
Hector	August 11–16	85 (50)	995	Western Mexico, Baja California Peninsula	None	None
Kai-tak (Helen)	August 12–18	120 (75)	970	Philippines, China, Vietnam, Laos	$765 million	38	[14][15]
Gordon	August 15–20	175 (110)	965	Azores	None	None
Tembin (Igme)	August 17–30	150 (90)	950	Philippines, Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea	$8.25 million	10	[16][17][18]
Bolaven (Julian)	August 19–29	185 (115)	910	Ryukyu Islands, Kyushu Northeastern China, South Korea, North Korea, Russian Far East	$3.59 billion	96	[19][20]
Isaac	August 21–September 1	130 (80)	965	Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Cuba, The Bahamas, Southeastern United States (Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama), Midwestern United States (Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana), Kentucky	$3.11 billion	34 (7)
Joyce	August 22–24	65 (40)	1006	None	None	None
TD	August 23–24	Unspecified	1006	Japan	None	None
Ileana	August 27–September 2	140 (85)	978	None	None	None
Kirk	August 28–September 2	165 (105)	970	None	None	None
Leslie	August 30–September 11	130 (80)	968	Leeward Islands, Bermuda, Atlantic Canada	$10.1 million	None

September

Typhoon Sanba

Tropical cyclones formed in September 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
John	September 2–4	75 (45)	1000	Baja California Peninsula	None	None
Michael	September 3–11	185 (115)	964	None	None	None
Nadine	September 10–October 4	150 (90)	978	Azores, United Kingdom	None	None
Sanba (Karen)	September 10–18	205 (125)	900	Palau, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, China, Russia	$378.8 million	6
TD	September 10–13	55 (35)	1006	Japan	None	None
Kristy	September 12–17	95 (60)	998	Baja California Peninsula	None	None
Lane	September 15–19	140 (85)	985	None	None	None
Jelawat (Lawin)	September 20–October 1	205 (125)	905	Japan, Philippines, Taiwan	$27.4 million	3
Miriam	September 22–27	195 (120)	959	Baja California Peninsula, Texas	None	None
Ewiniar	September 23–30	95 (60)	985	Mariana Islands, Japan	None	None
Norman	September 28–29	85 (50)	997	Western Mexico, Baja California Peninsula, Northwestern Mexico, Texas	Minimal	1
Maliksi	September 29–October 4	95 (60)	985	Guam, Marina Islands, Japan	None	None
Gaemi (Garce)	September 29–October 7	95 (60)	990	Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand	$4.1 million	5

October

Hurricane Sandy

Tropical cyclones formed in October 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
Oscar	October 3–5	85 (50)	994	None	None	None
Prapiroon (Nina)	October 5–19	165 (105)	940	Japan	None	1
Olivia	October 6–8	95 (60)	997	None	None	None
BOB 01	October 10–11	55 (35)	1002	Bangladesh	Minimal	43
Patty	October 11–13	75 (45)	1005	Bahamas	None	None
Rafael	October 12–17	150 (90)	969	Lesser Antilles, Bermuda, Atlantic Canada, United States East Coast, Azores, Western Europe	≤ $2 million	1
Anais	October 12–19	185 (115)	945	Diego Garcia, Madagascar	None	None
Paul	October 13–17	195 (120)	959	Baja California Peninsula, Northwestern Mexico	$15.5 million	None
Maria	October 13–20	95 (60)	990	Mariana Islands, Japan	None	None
Son-Tinh (Ofel)	October 21–30	155 (100)	945	Palau, Philippines, China, Vietnam	$776 million	42	[21]
Tony	October 22–25	85 (50)	1000	None	None	None
Murjan	October 22–26	75 (45)	998	Yemen, Somalia	Minimal	None
Sandy	October 22–29	185 (115)	940	Greater Antilles (Jamaica, Cuba), The Bahamas, East Coast of the United States (New Jersey), Bermuda, Atlantic Canada	$68.7 billion	233
Nilam	October 28–November 1	85 (50)	987	Sri Lanka, South India	$56.7 million	75
Rosa	October 30–November 3	85 (50)	1001	None	None	None

November

Typhoon Bopha

Tropical cyclones formed in November 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
01F	November 6–7	Unspecified	991	Fiji	None	None
25W	November 12–15	55 (35)	1004	Malaysia, Vietnam	None	None
02	November 15–16	45 (30)	1004	None	None	None
BOB 03	November 17–19	55 (35)	1002	India	None	None
Boldwin	November 23–26	100 (65)	985	None	None	None
Bopha (Pablo)	November 25–December 9	185 (115)	930	Caroline Islands, Palau, Philippines	$1.04 billion	1,901	[22][23][24]

December

Cyclone Freda

Tropical cyclones formed in December 2012

Storm name	Dates active	Max wind km/h (mph)	Pressure (hPa)	Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
Claudia	December 6–13	175 (110)	940	None	None	None
03F	December 9–17	Unspecified	997	Cook Islands	None	None
Evan	December 9–19	185 (115)	943	Samoan Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand	$316 million	14
02U	December 18–21	Unspecified	Unspecified	None	None	None
ARB 02	December 22–24	55 (35)	1002	Somalia	None	None
Wukong (Quinta)	December 24–29	75 (45)	998	Philippines, Vietnam	$5.48 million	20	[25]
Freda	December 26, 2012 – January 4, 2013	185 (115)	940	Solomon Islands, New Caledonia	None	2	[26]
Mitchell	December 27, 2012 – January 1, 2013	85 (50)	998	Western Australia	None	None
Dumile	December 29, 2012 – January 5, 2013	130 (80)	970	Mauritius, Réunion Island	$46 million	2
06F	December 30–31	Unspecified	1005	None	None	None

Global effects

Season name	Areas affected	Systems formed	Named storms	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Ref
2012 Atlantic hurricane season	Yucatán Peninsula, Cayman Islands, Cuba, United States, Canada, Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Iceland, Ireland, United Kingdom, Hispaniola, West Africa, Cape Verde, Azores	19	19	$72.32 billion	355
2012 Pacific hurricane season	Mexico, Baja California Sur, Southwestern United States, Colima, Sonora, Nayarit	17	17	$27.9 million	8
2012 Pacific typhoon season	Micronesia, Taiwan, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Mariana Islands, Japan, Korean Peninsula, Laos, Russian Far East, Thailand, Myanmar, Alaska	34	25	$20.796 billion	2,486
2012 North Indian Ocean cyclone season	India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea	4	2	$56.7 million	182
2011–12 Australian region cyclone season5	Indonesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea	15	4	$230 million	16
2012–13 Australian region cyclone season5	Solomon Islands, Western Australia	2	1	None	None
2011–12 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season5	Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Réunion, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland	8	8	None	164
2012–13 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season5	Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Réunion	5	4	$46 million	2
2011–12 South Pacific cyclone season5	Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tonga, New Zealand, Samoan Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Niue, Solomon Islands	18	3	>$17.2 million	18
2012–13 South Pacific cyclone season5	Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tonga, New Zealand, Samoan Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Niue, Solomon Islands	6	2	$316 million	17
Worldwide	(See above)	128	85	> $93.81 billion	3,248

Notes

¹ Only systems that formed either on or after January 1, 2012 are counted in the seasonal totals.
² Only systems that formed either before or on December 31, 2012 are counted in the seasonal totals.
³ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the IMD Scale which uses 3-minute sustained winds.
⁴ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the Saffir Simpson Scale which uses 1-minute sustained winds.
⁵The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone are based on Météo-France which uses gust winds.

See also

• Tropical cyclones portal

• Tropical cyclones by year
• List of earthquakes in 2012
• Tornadoes of 2012