The Major Hurricanes of 2012 - Part One
Welcome to my blog, a summary of the >115mph (1-min) cyclones of the Southern Hemisphere season!
The Major Hurricanes of 2012 - Part One (January-April)
The global hurricane drought continues as the Southern Hemisphere was left almost completely dead. Only 3 major hurricanes were recorded, 2 in the South Indian Ocean and another in the South Pacific.
Intense Tropical Cyclone Funso (Southwest Indian Ocean)
Funso was the first tropical cyclone to reach the 100kts margin, doing so directly parallel to the Mozambique coast where his flooding killed 40. Funso then continued to rapidly intensifying as he moved away from the Mozambique coast where he later peaked as a minimal category 4 hurricane with 140mph (120kts) winds.
Dates active: January 19 to 28, 2012
Max. wind speed: 140mph (120kts) 1-minute
Min. pressure: 936mb
Fatalities: 40+
Damage: Unknown
Areas affected: Mozambique and Malawi
Severe Tropical Cyclone Jasmine (South Pacific)
Jasmine was the second to reach major hurricane intensity, 2 days before Giovanna. The storm entered the South Pacific area of responsibility and quickly started to rapidly intensify. At peak intensity Jasmine showed annular characteristics and held it's intensity for many hours before an EWRC commenced. Jasmine caused some flooding on Tonga however no damage or deaths were reported.
Dates active: February 1 to 19, 2012
Max. wind speed: 135mph (115kts) 1-minute
Min. pressure: 942mb
Fatalities: 0
Damage: None
Areas affected: Western Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Tonga
Intense Tropical Cyclone Giovanna (Southwest Indian Ocean)
Giovanna is up to this date the strongest cyclone in 2012. Not long after formation it explosively intensified into a category 4 hurricane, however an eyewall replacement cycle cut off intensification. After it's EWRC finished it started to slowly re-intensify. It reached peak intensity just hours before making landfall on Madagascar. On Madagascar it caused flooding and some heavy wind damage near the coast. It killed 35 people on the island. After passing the island it re-intensified to a high end category 2 strength cyclone before dissipating.
Dates active: February 9 to 21, 2012
Max. wind speed: 145mph (125kts) 1-minute
Min. pressure: 932mb
Fatalities: 35+
Damage: Unknown
Areas affected: La Réunion, Mauritius and Madagascar
Honourable Mentions
These are the storms that almost reached major hurricane status, or storms that I feel are so unusual that they must be included.
1. Severe Tropical Cyclone Alenga (Australia)
This storm reached 110mph winds.
2. Tropical Cyclone Benilde (Southwest Indian Ocean)
This storm reached 105mph winds.
3. Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua (Australia)
This storm reached 110mph winds.
4. Tropical Cyclone Koji-Joni (Australia & Southwest Indian Ocean)
At the end of 2012 tropical cyclone names can only be given once by the basin of formation. Since hyphenated storms are very rare in the Atlantic+Eastern Pacific and Western Pacific+North Indian this is likely to be the last hyphenated storm in history.
5. Severe Tropical Storm Kuena (Southwest Indian Ocean)
Post season storms are rare enough, but they are incredibly rare in the Southern Hemisphere. This storm is the equivalent of a January storm for most northern basins. It quickly died in the shear after reaching a peak intensity of 60mph (55kt).
That's all for part 1! I'll have part 2 done for September (part 2 being May-August). Leave comments and criticism! :D
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