The 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season came to a close on November 30th, but Mother Nature did not get the memo (more on that later).  The 2012 season resulted in a total of 19 named systems; 9 Tropical Storms, and 10 Hurricanes.

Tropical Storms

• Alberto 5/19 – 5/22
• Beryl 5/25 – 5/30
• Debby 6/23 – 6/27
• Florence 8/3 – 8/6
• Helene 8/9 – 8/18
• Joyce 8/22 – 8/24
• Oscar 10/3 – 10/5
• Patty 10/11 – 10/13
• Tony 10/22 – 10/25

Hurricanes

Hurricane Ernesto was the first system to cause Disney Cruise Line to alter an itinerary this past summer. The [Disney_Fantasy] was switched from a Western Caribbean to an Eastern to avoid the system which eventually made a direct hit on Costa Maya. The Fantasy was the first cruise ship to return to Costa May after the clean up.

The biggest storm of the year was Hurricane Sandy. Sandy began as tropical depression (TD18) in the Southwestern Caribbean Sea on October 22, 2012. Around 5 PM on 10/22 the system intensified into a tropical storm headed for Jamaica. On October 24th the system became Hurricane Sandy as it was nearing Jamaica. Hurricane and Tropical Storm watches and warnings were issued for Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, parts of the Bahamas, and the southeast coast of Florida. Sandy was expected to weaken after moving over Cuba, but instead remained a hurricane though the Bahamas. Hurricane Sandy grew to an amazing size with tropical storm force winds reaching 520 mile from the center. On the evening of October 29, 2012 Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, and continues to spread havoc on the East Coast.

The Dream and Fantasy were both impacted by the storm. Passengers were offered a 25% discount on a future cruise.  However, based on the comments here and here, this was not enough.

Category 1

• Chris 6/19 – 6/22
• Ernesto 8/1 – 8/10
• Isaac 8/21 – 9/1
• Leslie 8/30 – 9/11
• Nadine 9/11 – 10/4
• Rafael 10/12 – 10/17

Category 2

• Gordon 8/15 – 8/20
• Kirk 8/28 – 9/2
• Sandy 10/22 – 10/30

Category 3

• Michael 9/3 – 9/11

The Off Season | December – May

Hurricane season may be over, but by no means does this mean it will be smooth sailing from now until June 1st. Tropical systems can develop at anytime but the atmospheric conditions are not as favorable between December and May.  This year we saw 2 storms develop in May before the official start of Hurricane Season.  Now, there is a low pressure system (Invest 91L) in the Atlantic moving northward with a 50% chance of future development. More than likely, it will be absorbed by a frontal system in a few days. If the system intensifies before encountering the front it would be named Valerie, the 20th named storm this year.