August 2012 Monthly Atlantic Tropical Weather Summary from the National Hurricane Center

Below are quotes and other information from the National Weather Service/National Hurricane Center’s August 2012 tropical weather summary for the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico.  This report was issued by the Center at 800 a.m. EDT  on September 1, 2012.  Monthly summaries during the Atlantic tropical storm season (June 1-November 30) are available online at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml.

“Eight tropical storms formed in the Atlantic basin during the month of August.  This ties the all-time record for the number of named storms forming in the month of August, which was set in 2004.  Four of the tropical storms became hurricanes during the month.  These totals were well above the long-term average (1981 to 2010) of three named storms with one or two hurricanes.  No major hurricanes [Category 3 or above] occurred this August, while a major hurricane typically occurs in August about once every two years.

“In terms of accumulated cyclone energy, which measures the combined strength and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes, tropical cyclone activity so far this year is about 50 percent above the 1981-2010 average through the end of the August in the Atlantic basin.”

Here is the Hurricane Center’s list of tropical storms (name, dates, and maximum wind speed in miles per hour) so far during the 2012 Atlantic season (H = hurricane; MH = major hurricane; TD = tropical depression; TS = tropical storm):

TS Alberto – 19-22 May – 60 mph
TS Beryl – 26-30 May – 70 mph
H  Chris – 19-22 Jun – 75 mph
TS Debby – 23-27 Jun – 60 mph
H  Ernesto – 1-10 Aug – 85 mph
TS Florence – 4-6 Aug – 60 mph
H  Gordon – 15-20 Aug – 110 mph
TS Helene – 9-18 Aug – 45 mph
H  Isaac – 21 Aug-CURRENT (9/5/12) – 80 mph
TS Joyce – 22-24 Aug – 40 mph
H  Kirk – 28 Aug-CURRENT (9/5/12) – 105 mph
H Leslie – 30 Aug-CURRENT (9/5/12) – 75 mph (as of 1:45 p.m. EDT on 9/5/12)

When completed, reports on individual storms (including tracks) are available online at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2012atlan.shtml.

Previous Water Central News Grouper posts on monthly tropical storm summaries for the current year are at the following links:
July 2012
June 2012

Following is a satellite photo of Hurricane Leslie, as of 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 Greenwich Mean Time) on 9/5/12, taken from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Web site at http://www.goes.noaa.gov/browsh.html.

About these ads