The 2012 season

Super Typhoon Sanba (2012)

Super Typhoon Sanba reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 10, 2012 and September 18, 2012, with a lowest pressure of 907 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Sanba, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
September 10, 2012 to September 18, 2012
Peak strength
Category 5, 155 kt (178 mph)
Lowest pressure
907 mb (26.78 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
26.5
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
210 nmi (389 km, 242 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
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
262 nmi (485 km, 302 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
45 kt (52 mph)
Fastest the center moved
31 kt (36 mph)
Identifier
WP172012

Radar at RODN as it neared land, Sep 16, 00:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 10, 00:008.6N 134.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 06:007.4N 135.0E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Sep 10, 12:008.2N 135.0E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Sep 10, 18:009.0N 135.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 00:0010.1N 134.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 06:0011.2N 133.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0011.9N 133.1E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0012.1N 132.3E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0012.5N 131.6E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0013.0N 131.1E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0013.5N 130.6E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Sep 12, 18:0014.1N 130.2E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Sep 13, 00:0014.8N 129.8E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Sep 13, 06:0015.6N 129.5E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Sep 13, 12:0016.4N 129.6E140 kt918 mbSuper typhoon
Sep 13, 18:0017.2N 129.7E155 kt907 mbSuper typhoon
Sep 14, 00:0018.1N 129.7E155 kt907 mbSuper typhoon
Sep 14, 06:0019.1N 129.8E150 kt911 mbSuper typhoon
Sep 14, 12:0020.2N 129.8E135 kt922 mbSuper typhoon
Sep 14, 18:0021.3N 129.5E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 00:0022.3N 129.1E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 06:0023.4N 128.8E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 12:0024.5N 128.5E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 18:0025.6N 128.2E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 00:0027.0N 128.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 06:0028.8N 128.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 12:0030.6N 127.8E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 18:0032.4N 127.8E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Sep 17, 00:0034.2N 128.1E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Sep 17, 06:0036.3N 128.4E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0038.7N 129.3E45 kt989 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 18:0041.0N 130.7E35 kt996 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 00:0042.6N 133.3E30 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 06:0045.9N 134.1E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 12:0047.4N 134.1E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 18:0048.0N 135.0E1002 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific 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.