A review of the 2012 hurricane, tropical cyclone and typhoon season and a 5 year summary 2008-2012

2012 was an average year, in contrast to the previous 4 years which were below average as regards hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons. There were increases in both the number of storms recorded and the number of events that became full-blown hurricanes, tropical cyclones or typhoons - both the highest values of the last 5 years. Both the Atlantic Hurricane Season and Southwest Indian Cyclone Season were above average and the other regions were near or below average. There were only three Category 5 events, all of which occurred in the NW Pacific region, exactly the same as last year. However the event which received the most publicity and generated the most damage was Hurricane/ Tropical Storm Sandy, particularly its impact on the USA. Typhoon Sanba in the Northwest Pacific region had an exceptionally low barometric pressure of only 900 hPa whereas there was no exceptional high wind speed event.