Hurricane Isaac (2012)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

August 20, 2012 to September 1, 2012

Peak strength

Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)

Lowest pressure

965 mb (28.50 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

10.4

Tropical-storm-force wind reached

200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) from the center at its widest

Hurricane-force wind reached

60 nmi (111 km, 69 mi) from the center at its widest

Eyewall radius at its peak

50 nmi (93 km, 58 mi)

Overall size

300 nmi (556 km, 345 mi) to the outermost closed isobar

Peak gust in the best track

85 kt (98 mph)

Fastest the center moved

20 kt (23 mph)

Identifier

AL092012

Radar at KHDC as it neared land, Aug 29, 08:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

8 (8 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

8

Property damage

$661 million

Crop damage

$19,000

Events recorded

453 in 56 reports from 23 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

94 thunderstorm wind, 71 tropical storm, 60 flash flood, 41 tropical depression, 34 tornado, 31 hurricane (typhoon), 28 storm surge/tide, 24 marine thunderstorm wind, 14 flood, 13 marine hurricane/typhoon, 12 strong wind, 11 funnel cloud, 10 heavy rain, 5 lightning, 3 coastal flood, 1 hail, 1 waterspout.

34 tornadoes and 1 waterspout recorded in the United States, strongest first.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 6,225 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 26.71 inches (678 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Persistent heavy rainbands from Tropical Storm Isaac produced widespread urban and lowland flooding across much of the county. Rainfall from the morning of August 26 until the evening of August 27 averaged 4 to 8 inches, with isolated totals of 10 to 14 inches, most of which fell from early morning until mid day on August 27. The most significant impacts occurred within the City of Okeechobee and adjacent rural locations, including Taylor Creek. Fourteen homes experienced major damage and another 146 had minor water intrusion (from either leaking roofs and/or high levels of standing water, mainly from over-topping local creek/canals. Several roads were temporarily closed due to standing water.

Okeechobee, Florida · Flood · Aug 27, 05:00 UTC

Persistent heavy rainbands from Tropical Storm Isaac produced widespread urban and lowland flooding across much of the county. Rainfall from the morning of August 26 until the evening of August 27 averaged 4 to 8 inches, with isolated totals of 14 to 17 inches, most of which fell during the morning and afternoon of August 27. The most significant impacts occurred near the coast from Winter Beach to Vero Beach and Florida Ridge. Twenty seven manufactured homes and two single family homes were damaged by water intrusion and 20 roads were temporarily closed due to standing water during the height of the flooding.

Indian River, Florida · Flood · Aug 27, 10:00 UTC

Storm surge inundation levels of 1 to 3 feet were reported at many of the coastal areas...especially at the times of astronomical high tides on both the 28th and 29th. Numerous coastal roadways were flooded along with other waterfront property. Some of the roadways include...Water Street in Downtown Mobile...DIP at the Dog River Bridge...Bienville Boulevard on the West End of Dauphin Island...the Highway 90 causeway over northern Mobile Bay...as well as locations around Alabama Port. The Alabama Governor ordered evacuations of zones 1 and 2 in coastal Mobile county.

Lower Mobile, Alabama · Tropical Storm · Aug 28, 12:00 UTC

Strong winds downed multiple trees all across the parish between the afternoon of the 29th and mid day on the 30th. Overnight, several trees and large tree limbs fell on power lines causing scattered power outages across the parish. A few fallen trees blocked roads as well.

Catahoula, Louisiana · Tropical Storm · Aug 29, 18:00 UTC

By early afternoon of the 29th trees had been blown down in Brookhaven and throughout the county. By early evening, trees had been blown down along Interstate 55 near the U.S. 84 Interchange, and wires and a sign were blown down on U.S. 84 near Brookhaven. By mid evening, several trees were blown down on homes in Brookhaven and several roads were blocked by trees around the county. By early morning on the 30th, 180 roads had been blocked by fallen trees and power lines. Thirty homes had trees on them, and around 12,000 residents were without power.

Lincoln, Mississippi · Tropical Storm · Aug 29, 19:00 UTC

During the evening of the 29th, trees and power lines were blown down along Redwood Avenue and Queen Mary lane in West Jackson. Shortly after midnight, a large tree was blown down at the intersection of Seven Springs Road and Springridge Road. Additional trees and power lines were blown down all across the county during the overnight hours causing power outages in several areas. Several roads near Terry and Raymond had to be closed due to fallen trees. By early morning more than 50 trees were blown down across the county.

Hinds, Mississippi · Tropical Storm · Aug 29, 19:30 UTC

The Geneva county emergency manager confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down around the Highway 52 and County Road 20 area. Several large trees were blown down, and the roof was blown off a mobile home along with damage to sheds and a barn near County Road 5 and Bear Branch Road. This tornado continued into far southwest Coffee county before lifting. Monetary damage was estimated.

Geneva, Alabama · Tornado · Aug 30, 07:44 UTC

A tornado touched down about 0.8 miles south of Franklin at 5:12 PM CDT, then tracked north-northwest before lifting 0.5 miles south of Franklin at 5:13 PM CDT. The tornado destroyed an auto shop and damaged the roof of a house on the south side of Franklin. A mobile home was rolled off its foundation onto Illinois Route 104, injuring one person inside. Several trees were blown down and numerous tree branches were knocked down as well.

Morgan, Illinois · Tornado · Aug 31, 22:12 UTC

A tornado briefly touched down southwest of the Corning Municipal Airport and traveled northeast across the northern portion of the airport. Two hangars were extensively damaged with a few others receiving minor damage. Many of the aircraft that were housed inside the hangar were heavily damaged as well. Two homes near the airport had windows blown out and a shed had the roof blown off. The tornado continued northeast crossing Highway 67. Power poles along the highway were knocked down. A clear path was seen in the bean field north of Highway 67. The tornado lifted near County Road 135. Large amounts of debris were found nearly 1.5 miles away from the airfield with one 930 pound piece of equipment found nearly a quarter of mile away from the building which it was being stored.

Clay, Arkansas · Tornado · Sep 1, 21:19 UTC

A tornado was on the ground between Fisk and Rombauer. The tornado was well-photographed and visible for quite some distance. The tornado occurred over open farm country and caused no significant damage. A trained spotter who photographed the tornado from his residence reported that it stayed on the ground for seven minutes.

Butler, Missouri · Tornado · Sep 1, 21:32 UTC

Flash flooding occurred throughout much of the city. Street flooding was reported throughout downtown Carbondale. Highway 13 was closed through the middle of the city due to stranded vehicles in the road. Flash flooding occurred in front of the train station on U.S. Highway 51, where two cars were stalled out. A nearby theater was damaged by floodwater. The automated observing system at the Carbondale airport measured 4.72 inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac. Of that amount, 2.38 inches fell in a two-hour period.

Jackson, Illinois · Flash Flood · Sep 1, 22:00 UTC

Showers and thunderstorms trained over Midtown Memphis for at least an hour. Streets became flooded as a result. Union Avenue near Belvedere had to be shut down and the intersection of Central Avenue and Barksdale Street had six to eight inches of standing water covering it.

Shelby, Tennessee · Flash Flood · Sep 3, 00:50 UTC

Thunderstorms with heavy rain caused flash flooding of smaller creeks as well as poor drainage and roadway flooding in West Chester and West Goshen Township. A couple of roads were closed in West Chester. Doppler Radar rainfall estimates were around three inches.

Chester, Pennsylvania · Flash Flood · Sep 3, 05:30 UTC

For the second time within the same day, thunderstorms with heavy rain caused flash flooding along the Valley Creek. The Valley Creek near Valley Forge exceeded its 7 foot flood stage from 1118 a.m. EDT through 1230 p.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 7.29 feet at Noon EDT.

Chester, Pennsylvania · Flash Flood · Sep 3, 15:18 UTC

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• Hurricane ChrisNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 175 kt · 974 mb
• Tropical Storm DebbyNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm55 kt · 990 mb
• Hurricane ErnestoNorth Atlantic · 2012 · 12 deathsCat 285 kt · 973 mb
• Tropical Storm FlorenceNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm50 kt · 1002 mb
• Tropical Storm HeleneNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm40 kt · 1004 mb
• Hurricane GordonNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 295 kt · 965 mb
• Tropical Storm JoyceNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm35 kt · 1006 mb
• Hurricane LeslieNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 170 kt · 968 mb
• Hurricane KirkNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 290 kt · 970 mb
• Hurricane MichaelNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 3100 kt · 964 mb
• Hurricane NadineNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 180 kt · 978 mb
• Tropical Storm OscarNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm45 kt · 994 mb
• Tropical Storm PattyNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm40 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane RafaelNorth Atlantic · 2012Cat 180 kt · 966 mb
• Hurricane SandyNorth Atlantic · 2012 · 254 deaths · $69 billionCat 3100 kt · 940 mb
• Tropical Storm TonyNorth Atlantic · 2012Tropical Storm45 kt · 1000 mb

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.

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.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Best track as KMZ, National Hurricane Center
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Isaac