Track map & timeline · Atlantic · October 12–26, 2012
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. During the replay the shaded rings show the storm’s wind field as analysed by NHC — 39+, 58+ and 74+ mph winds, quadrant by quadrant. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Hurricane Rafael (2012) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic season. It formed on October 12, 2012, 109 mi W of Fort-de-France, Martinique, reached its peak of 92 mph (148 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 966 mb on October 16, 2012, and never made landfall. The storm lasted 13.8 days and travelled about 6,353 miles (10,222 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12 18:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1006 mb | 14.7°N 62.7°W | 97 mi WSW of Roseau, Dominica |
| Oct 13 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1007 mb | 15.0°N 63.2°W | 120 mi SW of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe |
| Oct 13 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1006 mb | 15.3°N 63.7°W | 140 mi WSW of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe |
| Oct 13 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1006 mb | 15.6°N 63.8°W | 137 mi SSW of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Oct 13 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1004 mb | 16.7°N 63.6°W | 71 mi SW of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Oct 14 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1004 mb | 17.9°N 63.5°W | 66 mi NW of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Oct 14 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1003 mb | 18.9°N 63.6°W | 95 mi ENE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Oct 14 12:00 | TS | 58 mph | 999 mb | 19.7°N 63.9°W | 116 mi NE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Oct 14 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | 994 mb | 20.4°N 64.3°W | 148 mi NNE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Oct 15 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | 989 mb | 21.3°N 64.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 15 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 986 mb | 22.0°N 65.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 15 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 983 mb | 22.6°N 65.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 15 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 979 mb | 23.6°N 65.8°W | open ocean |
| Oct 16 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 974 mb | 24.6°N 65.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 16 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 972 mb | 25.9°N 65.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 16 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 969 mb | 27.6°N 64.9°W | open ocean |
| Oct 16 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 970 mb | 29.5°N 64.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 17 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 970 mb | 31.6°N 63.1°W | 110 mi ESE of Pembroke Parish, Bermuda |
| Oct 17 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 972 mb | 34.0°N 61.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 17 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 972 mb | 36.5°N 60.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 17 18:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | 972 mb | 38.8°N 58.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 18 00:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | 972 mb | 41.3°N 55.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 18 06:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | 972 mb | 43.4°N 50.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 18 12:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | 972 mb | 45.2°N 46.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 18 18:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | 973 mb | 47.0°N 41.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 19 00:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 975 mb | 49.2°N 36.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 19 06:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 973 mb | 51.0°N 32.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 19 12:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 970 mb | 53.0°N 29.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 19 18:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 968 mb | 55.0°N 30.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 20 00:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 966 mb | 56.5°N 33.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 20 06:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 966 mb | 56.0°N 37.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 20 12:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 967 mb | 53.1°N 36.4°W | open ocean |
| Oct 20 18:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 970 mb | 50.8°N 34.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 21 00:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | 975 mb | 49.7°N 32.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 21 06:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 978 mb | 49.2°N 31.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 21 12:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 979 mb | 48.2°N 30.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 21 18:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 982 mb | 47.0°N 30.8°W | open ocean |
| Oct 22 00:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 983 mb | 45.5°N 31.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 22 06:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 985 mb | 43.9°N 29.8°W | open ocean |
| Oct 22 12:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 987 mb | 41.9°N 28.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 22 18:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 989 mb | 40.0°N 27.0°W | 94 mi N of Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal |
| Oct 23 00:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 992 mb | 39.2°N 25.5°W | 100 mi ENE of Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal |
| Oct 23 06:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 992 mb | 39.5°N 24.5°W | 134 mi NNE of Lagoa, Portugal |
| Oct 23 12:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 992 mb | 39.8°N 23.6°W | 177 mi NE of Lagoa, Portugal |
| Oct 23 18:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 992 mb | 40.5°N 22.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 24 00:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 993 mb | 41.2°N 20.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 24 06:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 995 mb | 41.6°N 18.8°W | open ocean |
| Oct 24 12:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 995 mb | 42.1°N 17.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 24 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 995 mb | 41.9°N 16.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 25 00:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 995 mb | 41.6°N 14.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 25 06:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 995 mb | 41.3°N 13.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 25 12:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 996 mb | 41.0°N 12.0°W | 170 mi W of Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal |
| Oct 25 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 997 mb | 40.9°N 11.2°W | 136 mi W of Porto, Portugal |
| Oct 26 00:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 998 mb | 40.7°N 10.4°W | 89 mi WNW of Figueira da Foz, Portugal |
| Oct 26 06:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 999 mb | 40.3°N 9.1°W | 16 mi NW of Figueira da Foz, Portugal |
| Oct 26 12:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | 1002 mb | 40.0°N 7.5°W | 12 mi N of Castelo Branco, Portugal |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Rafael.
At its peak on October 16, 2012, Rafael was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 92 mph (148 km/h) and a central pressure of 966 mb.
13.8 days, from October 12, 2012 to October 26, 2012, including 60 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 6,353 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.
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