Personal evaluations aside (if you got hit, it was a rough season, and vice versa if you didn’t), from the ‘events’ that this seasons storms unfolded, I believe there are certain days that really perked up the antennae on both pro mets and those who are just fascinated with all things ‘storm’.
In chronological order, this is my unofficial, personal view as to which days made the 2012 Season memorable (there are no doubt others so add away!):
5/19/12 & 5/25/12• In the span of less than a week before the season officially began, the coast of South Carolina is placed under advisories for 2 tropical storms (tropical storm watch from Savannah River to South Santee River for TS Alberto on 5/19 and a tropical storm warning for TS Beryl from South Santee River, SC to the N/C FL East coast on 5/25).
6/21/12• Hurricane Chris forms 650 miles southeast of Newfoundland at 41 North latitude! That’s pretty far north given that summer had just begun. Mid-latitude systems would become a pattern this season.
6/24/12• In less than 12 hours, the forecast track for Debby went from a forecast hurricane moving towards the Western Gulf with a possible date with Texas to the tracking doing almost a 180 and instead moving into Florida with unexpected tropical storm winds that brought advisories to the FL west coast even.
Sunday morning forecast track followed by track later that afternoon...
8/3/12• After a quite July, things seem to be getting going in a hurry when the NHC puts out this forecast graphic for Ernesto’s potential track. That is a forecast track that will get folks on the Gulf Coast to take notice. As it turned out, Ernesto stayed south and was not a U.S. landfalling storm.
8/22/12• What the Ernesto graphic did for the Central and Western Gulf, the Isaac graphic on this day got South Florida’s attention as we got ready to commemorate Andrew’s 20th anniversary a few days later.
8/26/12• Now it was New Orleans’ turn, along with the Northern Gulf, to have the scary forecast graphic. As the 7 year anniversary of Katrina approached, this forecast graphic was unsettling to say the least. This is not a track to be taken lightly. The forecast track then went on to be realized. Areas inside the levee protection didn’t flood, nor were evacuations for those same areas ordered.
8/27/12• Several hundred miles to the east of Isaac at this point, Palm Beach County in south florida gets stuck in a persistent rainband and the worst flooding in over 50 years took place county wide. Most areas saw 8-12”, some areas 16” or more in a 30 hour period.
9/11/12 &10/4/12• Nadine’s life span – the 21.25 days as a named storm was good enough to tie Fifi as the 2nd longest lasting tropical storm on receord.
10/25/12• Just when we had been thinking for a few weeks the season was done, Sandy forms and rapidly reaches 110 mph before hitting Cuba (quite possibly to be reclassified as a Cat 3 post-season before hitting Cuba). 200,000 left homeless in Haiti and over $2 billion in damage is done in Cuba, including 150,000+ homes destroyed.
10/29/12• No need to elaborate – record surge in NYC, parts of NJ coast washed away, tropical storm conditions extend to Bermuda, wind gusts causing Lake flooding in the Great Lakes and 3’of snow falls in West Virginia. Now that is a day!
