The 2012 season

Super Typhoon Bopha (2012)

Super Typhoon Bopha reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between November 25, 2012 and December 9, 2012, with a lowest pressure of 911 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Super Typhoon Bopha. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
November 25, 2012 to December 9, 2012
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
911 mb (26.90 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
38.9
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
135 nmi (250 km, 155 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
40 nmi (74 km, 46 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
5 nmi (9 km, 6 mi)
Overall size
200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
20 kt (23 mph)
Identifier
WP262012

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Nov 25, 12:003.4N 157.4ETropical storm
Nov 25, 18:003.5N 157.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 00:003.7N 156.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 06:003.9N 156.7E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 12:004.1N 156.3E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Nov 26, 18:004.1N 156.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Nov 27, 00:004.2N 155.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 06:004.4N 155.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 12:004.5N 155.4E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 18:004.6N 155.0E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 00:004.8N 154.1E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 06:005.0N 153.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 12:004.7N 151.9E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 18:004.4N 150.8E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 00:004.1N 149.8E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 06:003.8N 148.9E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 12:003.4N 148.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 18:003.4N 147.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 00:003.6N 146.0E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 06:003.8N 145.2E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Nov 30, 12:004.1N 144.2E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Nov 30, 18:004.4N 143.0E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 1, 00:004.7N 142.0E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 1, 06:005.0N 141.0E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 1, 12:005.4N 140.0E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Dec 1, 18:005.8N 138.8E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Dec 2, 00:006.1N 137.6E130 kt926 mbSuper typhoon
Dec 2, 06:006.3N 136.1E135 kt922 mbSuper typhoon
Dec 2, 12:006.5N 134.6E135 kt922 mbSuper typhoon
Dec 2, 18:006.5N 133.2E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Dec 3, 00:006.6N 131.8E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 3, 06:007.0N 130.4E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Dec 3, 12:007.4N 128.9E140 kt918 mbSuper typhoon
Dec 3, 18:007.5N 127.2E150 kt911 mbSuper typhoon
Dec 4, 00:007.8N 125.9E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 4, 06:008.6N 124.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Dec 4, 12:009.3N 122.2E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Dec 4, 18:009.8N 120.8E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 5, 00:0010.2N 119.6E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 5, 06:0010.7N 118.7E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Dec 5, 12:0011.2N 118.3E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Dec 5, 18:0011.5N 117.6E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 6, 00:0012.0N 117.1E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 6, 06:0012.4N 116.6E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 6, 12:0012.9N 116.3E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 18:0013.4N 116.0E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 00:0013.9N 115.8E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 7, 06:0014.6N 115.9E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 7, 12:0015.4N 116.1E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 7, 18:0016.2N 116.4E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 8, 00:0016.9N 117.1E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Dec 8, 06:0017.6N 118.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Dec 8, 12:0017.8N 118.6E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Dec 8, 18:0018.1N 119.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 00:0018.3N 119.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 9, 06:0018.2N 119.5E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 2012

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.