Tropical Storm Helene (2012)
Tropical Storm Helene peaked at 40 kt in the North Atlantic between August 9, 2012 and August 19, 2012, with a lowest pressure of 1004 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Tropical Storm Helene. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- August 9, 2012 to August 19, 2012
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 1004 mb (29.65 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.3
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 30 nmi (56 km, 35 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 30 nmi (56 km, 35 mi)
- Overall size
- 150 nmi (278 km, 173 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 45 kt (52 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 25 kt (29 mph)
- Identifier
- AL072012
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Landfall
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 12:00 | Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 41 km away | 21.9N 97.7W | 30 kt (35 mph) | 1008 mb |
Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9, 18:00 | 13.7N 43.0W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 10, 00:00 | 13.6N 44.6W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 10, 06:00 | 13.5N 46.3W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 10, 12:00 | 13.4N 48.2W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 10, 18:00 | 13.4N 50.5W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 11, 00:00 | 13.4N 52.9W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 11, 06:00 | 13.4N 55.4W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 11, 12:00 | 13.3N 57.9W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 11, 18:00 | 13.3N 59.9W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 12, 00:00 | 13.5N 61.4W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 12, 06:00 | 13.7N 63.2W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 12, 12:00 | 13.9N 65.6W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 12, 18:00 | 14.1N 68.0W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 13, 00:00 | 14.1N 70.4W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 13, 06:00 | 14.1N 72.7W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 13, 12:00 | 14.1N 74.9W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 13, 18:00 | 14.1N 76.6W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 14, 00:00 | 14.1N 78.4W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 14, 06:00 | 14.1N 80.1W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 14, 12:00 | 14.1N 81.8W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 14, 18:00 | 14.3N 83.6W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 15, 00:00 | 14.7N 85.3W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 15, 06:00 | 15.2N 87.0W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical wave |
| Aug 15, 12:00 | 15.7N 88.6W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 15, 18:00 | 16.5N 89.5W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 16, 00:00 | 17.5N 90.5W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 16, 06:00 | 18.5N 91.0W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 16, 12:00 | 19.2N 91.5W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 16, 18:00 | 19.3N 92.6W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 17, 00:00 | 19.3N 94.2W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 17, 06:00 | 19.7N 95.2W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Low |
| Aug 17, 12:00 | 19.9N 95.7W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 17, 18:00 | 20.3N 95.9W | 40 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 18, 00:00 | 20.8N 96.1W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 18, 06:00 | 21.4N 96.8W | 30 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 18, 12:00 landfall | 21.9N 97.7W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 18, 18:00 | 22.5N 98.7W | 25 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 19, 00:00 | 22.7N 98.9W | 25 kt | 1009 mb | Low |
Other North Atlantic storms of 2012
- Tropical Storm AlbertoNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Tropical Storm BerylNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane ChrisNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Tropical Storm DebbyNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane ErnestoNorth Atlantic · 2012 · 12 deaths
- Tropical Storm FlorenceNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane GordonNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane IsaacNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Tropical Storm JoyceNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane LeslieNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane KirkNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane MichaelNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane NadineNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Tropical Storm OscarNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Tropical Storm PattyNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane RafaelNorth Atlantic · 2012
- Hurricane SandyNorth Atlantic · 2012 · 254 deaths · $69 billion
- Tropical Storm TonyNorth Atlantic · 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.