The 2012 season

Hurricane Kirk (2012)

Hurricane Kirk reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 28, 2012 and September 3, 2012, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Kirk, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2012 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 28, 2012 to September 3, 2012
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1077 km (669 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.7
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
120 nmi (222 km, 138 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi)
Overall size
180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
110 kt (127 mph)
Fastest the center moved
43 kt (49 mph)
Identifier
AL112012

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 28, 18:0023.9N 43.4W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Aug 29, 00:0024.0N 44.5W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0024.3N 45.5W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0024.6N 46.3W45 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0025.1N 47.1W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0025.6N 47.9W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0026.1N 48.6W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0026.8N 49.3W65 kt989 mbHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0027.6N 50.1W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0028.5N 50.5W80 kt981 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0029.6N 50.7W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0030.6N 50.9W90 kt972 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0031.7N 50.6W80 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0033.1N 50.0W70 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0034.6N 48.9W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0036.5N 47.3W60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0038.4N 45.4W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0040.3N 43.0W55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0042.4N 40.6W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0045.0N 38.1W50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0048.1N 34.6W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0051.7N 30.9W45 kt1002 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic 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.