page_title: Timeline of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season
section_title: October
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season / Timeline of events / October
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Hurricane Rafael of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season was an event in the annual hurricane season in the north Atlantic Ocean. It featured the third-most named storms for the third consecutive year on record. The season officially began on June 1, 2012, and ended on November 30, 2012, dates that conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones develop in the Atlantic basin. Surprisingly, two preseason storms formed: Alberto on May 19, and Beryl on May 26. This was the first such occurrence since the 1908 season. The final storm to dissipate was Sandy, on October 29. Altogether, there were 19 named storms during the season, including ten hurricanes of which two intensified into major hurricanes.
  Storm impact during the season was widespread and ruinous, with the most significant storms in term of loss of life and damage being hurricanes Isaac and Sandy. A Category 1 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, Isaac was a large system that moved ashore the coast of Louisiana on August 12; the storm resulted in 41 deaths overall.
context_section_description: October 1
  1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) – Hurricane Nadine weakens to a tropical storm.
  October 3
  0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) – Tropical Depression Fifteen develops from an area of low pressure roughly 1,035 mi (1,665 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands.
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) – Tropical Depression Fifteen intensifies into Tropical Storm Oscar.
  October 4
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST October 3) – Tropical Storm Nadine degenerates into a non-convective remnant area of low pressure roughly 195 mi (315 km) southwest of the central Azores.
  October 5
  0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Oscar attains its peak intensity with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 994 mbar (hPa; 29.35 inHg).
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Oscar dissipates over the central Atlantic Ocean.
  October 11
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT October 10) – Tropical Depression Sixteen develops from an area of low pressure.
  0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Depression Sixteen intensifies into Tropical Storm Patty roughly 175 mi (280 km) east-northeast of San Salvador, Bahamas.
  October 12
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT October 11) – Tropical Storm Patty attains its peak intensity with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1005 mbar (hPa; 29.68 inHg).
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Rafael develops from an area of low pressure roughly 230 mi (370 km) south-southeast of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
  October 13
  0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Storm Patty weakens to a tropical depression.
  1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Depression Patty dissipates northeast of the Bahamas.
  October 14
  0000–0600 UTC (8:00 p.m. October 13–2:00 a.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Rafael crosses the Leeward Islands into the western Atlantic Ocean.
  October 15
  0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Rafael intensifies into a Category 1 hurricane roughly 750 mi (1,210 km) south of Bermuda.
  October 16
  1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) – Hurricane Rafael attains its peak intensity with winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 969 mbar (hPa; 28.61 inHg) roughly 345 mi (555 km) south of Bermuda.
  October 17
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) – Hurricane Rafael transitions into an extratropical cyclone several hundred miles southeast of Nova Scotia.
  October 22
  1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Depression Eighteen develops from an area of low pressure roughly 350 mi (560 km) south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT) – Tropical Depression Eighteen intensifies into Tropical Storm Sandy.
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) – Tropical Depression Nineteen develops from an area of low pressure roughly 715 mi (1,150 km) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands.
  October 24
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST October 23) – Tropical Depression Nineteen intensifies into Tropical Storm Tony.
  1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Storm Sandy intensifies into a Category 1 hurricane roughly 90 mi (140 km) south of Kingston, Jamaica.
  1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Tony attains its peak intensity with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1000 mbar (hPa; 29.53 inHg) roughly midway between the northern Leeward Islands and the Azores.
  1900 UTC (3:00 p.m. EDT) – Hurricane Sandy makes its first landfall near Bull Bay, Jamaica, with winds of 85 mph (140 km/h).
  October 25
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT October 24) – Hurricane Sandy intensifies into a Category 2 hurricane.
  0525 UTC (1:25 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Sandy intensifies into a Category 3 hurricane and simultaneously makes its second landfall roughly 10 mi (15 km) west of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h).
  0900–1200 UTC (5:00–8:00 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Sandy crosses Cuba into the Bahamas.
  1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) – Tropical Storm Tony transitions into an extratropical cyclone.
  0900 UTC (5:00 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Sandy weakens to a Category 2 hurricane.
  October 26
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT October 25) – Hurricane Sandy weakens to a Category 1 hurricane.
  October 27
  0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT October 26) – Hurricane Sandy weakens to a tropical storm.
  1200 UTC 
caption: Storm path of Hurricane Rafael
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