Hurricane Rafael (2012)
Hurricane Rafael reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 12, 2012 and October 26, 2012, with a lowest pressure of 966 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Rafael, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- October 12, 2012 to October 26, 2012
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 966 mb (28.53 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 7.4
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 640 nmi (1185 km, 736 mi) from the center at its widest
- Hurricane-force wind reached
- 70 nmi (130 km, 81 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
- Overall size
- 300 nmi (556 km, 345 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 100 kt (115 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 40 kt (46 mph)
- Identifier
- AL172012
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 18:00 | 14.7N 62.7W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 13, 00:00 | 15.0N 63.2W | 35 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 13, 06:00 | 15.3N 63.7W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 13, 12:00 | 15.6N 63.8W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 13, 18:00 | 16.7N 63.6W | 40 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 14, 00:00 | 17.9N 63.5W | 45 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 14, 06:00 | 18.9N 63.6W | 45 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 14, 12:00 | 19.7N 63.9W | 50 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 14, 18:00 | 20.4N 64.3W | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 15, 00:00 | 21.3N 64.7W | 60 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 15, 06:00 | 22.0N 65.2W | 65 kt | 986 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 15, 12:00 | 22.6N 65.6W | 70 kt | 983 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 15, 18:00 | 23.6N 65.8W | 75 kt | 979 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 16, 00:00 | 24.6N 65.6W | 80 kt | 974 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 16, 06:00 | 25.9N 65.3W | 80 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 16, 12:00 | 27.6N 64.9W | 80 kt | 969 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 16, 18:00 | 29.5N 64.2W | 75 kt | 970 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 00:00 | 31.6N 63.1W | 75 kt | 970 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 06:00 | 34.0N 61.7W | 70 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 12:00 | 36.5N 60.1W | 65 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 18:00 | 38.8N 58.0W | 65 kt | 972 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 18, 00:00 | 41.3N 55.0W | 65 kt | 972 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 18, 06:00 | 43.4N 50.7W | 60 kt | 972 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 18, 12:00 | 45.2N 46.0W | 55 kt | 972 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 18, 18:00 | 47.0N 41.0W | 55 kt | 973 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 19, 00:00 | 49.2N 36.2W | 50 kt | 975 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 19, 06:00 | 51.0N 32.5W | 50 kt | 973 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 19, 12:00 | 53.0N 29.5W | 50 kt | 970 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 19, 18:00 | 55.0N 30.0W | 50 kt | 968 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 20, 00:00 | 56.5N 33.0W | 50 kt | 966 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 20, 06:00 | 56.0N 37.0W | 50 kt | 966 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 20, 12:00 | 53.1N 36.4W | 50 kt | 967 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 20, 18:00 | 50.8N 34.3W | 50 kt | 970 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 21, 00:00 | 49.7N 32.2W | 45 kt | 975 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 21, 06:00 | 49.2N 31.1W | 40 kt | 978 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 21, 12:00 | 48.2N 30.6W | 40 kt | 979 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 21, 18:00 | 47.0N 30.8W | 40 kt | 982 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 22, 00:00 | 45.5N 31.1W | 40 kt | 983 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 22, 06:00 | 43.9N 29.8W | 40 kt | 985 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 22, 12:00 | 41.9N 28.3W | 40 kt | 987 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 22, 18:00 | 40.0N 27.0W | 40 kt | 989 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 23, 00:00 | 39.2N 25.5W | 40 kt | 992 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 23, 06:00 | 39.5N 24.5W | 40 kt | 992 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 23, 12:00 | 39.8N 23.6W | 40 kt | 992 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 23, 18:00 | 40.5N 22.1W | 40 kt | 992 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 24, 00:00 | 41.2N 20.1W | 40 kt | 993 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 24, 06:00 | 41.6N 18.8W | 40 kt | 995 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 24, 12:00 | 42.1N 17.5W | 30 kt | 995 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 24, 18:00 | 41.9N 16.0W | 30 kt | 995 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 25, 00:00 | 41.6N 14.6W | 30 kt | 995 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 25, 06:00 | 41.3N 13.3W | 30 kt | 995 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 25, 12:00 | 41.0N 12.0W | 30 kt | 996 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 25, 18:00 | 40.9N 11.2W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 26, 00:00 | 40.7N 10.4W | 30 kt | 998 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 26, 06:00 | 40.3N 9.1W | 30 kt | 999 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 26, 12:00 | 40.0N 7.5W | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Extratropical |
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
- Tropical Storm HeleneNorth 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 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.