Hurricane Michael (2012): Track, Deaths, Damage and Rainfall

Radar

Reflectivity now over Hurricane Michael. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

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

The storm

Basin: North Atlantic
Dates: September 2, 2012 to September 12, 2012
Peak strength: Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure: 964 mb (28.47 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 788 km (490 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 16.7
Tropical-storm-force wind reached: 70 nmi (130 km, 81 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached: 20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak: 10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi)
Overall size: 230 nmi (426 km, 265 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track: 120 kt (138 mph)
Fastest the center moved: 31 kt (36 mph)
Identifier: AL132012

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Sep 2, 00:00	28.9N 36.7W	20 kt	1015 mb	Low
Sep 2, 06:00	28.1N 37.9W	25 kt	1015 mb	Low
Sep 2, 12:00	27.2N 39.2W	25 kt	1015 mb	Low
Sep 2, 18:00	26.4N 40.1W	25 kt	1015 mb	Low
Sep 3, 00:00	25.8N 40.7W	25 kt	1015 mb	Low
Sep 3, 06:00	25.4N 41.2W	25 kt	1015 mb	Tropical depression
Sep 3, 12:00	25.3N 41.7W	25 kt	1014 mb	Tropical depression
Sep 3, 18:00	25.5N 42.1W	30 kt	1013 mb	Tropical depression
Sep 4, 00:00	25.8N 42.5W	30 kt	1011 mb	Tropical depression
Sep 4, 06:00	26.2N 43.0W	35 kt	1009 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 4, 12:00	26.7N 43.5W	40 kt	1007 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 4, 18:00	27.1N 43.7W	45 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 5, 00:00	27.4N 43.8W	45 kt	1005 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 5, 06:00	27.8N 43.8W	45 kt	1005 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 5, 12:00	28.2N 43.5W	50 kt	1001 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 5, 18:00	28.6N 43.1W	65 kt	992 mb	Hurricane
Sep 6, 00:00	29.0N 42.6W	80 kt	981 mb	Hurricane
Sep 6, 06:00	29.4N 42.0W	95 kt	968 mb	Hurricane
Sep 6, 12:00	29.9N 41.4W	100 kt	964 mb	Hurricane
Sep 6, 18:00	30.3N 41.0W	95 kt	968 mb	Hurricane
Sep 7, 00:00	30.6N 40.8W	90 kt	970 mb	Hurricane
Sep 7, 06:00	30.9N 40.8W	90 kt	970 mb	Hurricane
Sep 7, 12:00	31.1N 41.0W	90 kt	970 mb	Hurricane
Sep 7, 18:00	31.3N 41.2W	85 kt	973 mb	Hurricane
Sep 8, 00:00	31.6N 41.5W	80 kt	977 mb	Hurricane
Sep 8, 06:00	32.0N 41.7W	80 kt	978 mb	Hurricane
Sep 8, 12:00	32.4N 41.9W	85 kt	975 mb	Hurricane
Sep 8, 18:00	32.9N 42.1W	90 kt	972 mb	Hurricane
Sep 9, 00:00	33.3N 42.3W	90 kt	973 mb	Hurricane
Sep 9, 06:00	33.6N 42.6W	85 kt	976 mb	Hurricane
Sep 9, 12:00	33.7N 42.9W	85 kt	976 mb	Hurricane
Sep 9, 18:00	33.7N 43.5W	80 kt	979 mb	Hurricane
Sep 10, 00:00	33.6N 44.1W	75 kt	982 mb	Hurricane
Sep 10, 06:00	33.4N 44.9W	70 kt	985 mb	Hurricane
Sep 10, 12:00	33.6N 45.8W	70 kt	986 mb	Hurricane
Sep 10, 18:00	33.9N 46.9W	65 kt	988 mb	Hurricane
Sep 11, 00:00	34.8N 47.8W	60 kt	991 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 06:00	36.4N 47.8W	55 kt	994 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 12:00	38.2N 47.6W	45 kt	997 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 18:00	40.2N 46.6W	40 kt	1000 mb	Low
Sep 12, 00:00	42.5N 45.0W	35 kt	1003 mb	Low
Sep 12, 06:00	45.0N 42.6W	30 kt	1006 mb	Low

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.