Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012

Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012

Satellite image of Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012 (center) which was an unusually strong storm which formed over Siberia on August 2, 2012 and tracked into the center of the Arctic Ocean, where it slowly dissipated.
Type	Extratropical cyclone Polar low
Formed	August 2, 2012
Dissipated	August 14, 2012
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 80 mph (130 km/h)
Lowest pressure	962 hPa (28.41 inHg)
Fatalities	None
Damage	None
Areas affected	Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The Great Arctic Cyclone,^[1] or "Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012", was a powerful extratropical cyclone that was centered on the Arctic Ocean in early August 2012. Cyclones of this magnitude are rare in the Arctic summer, although common in the winter. The Great Arctic Cyclone was the strongest summer storm in the Arctic and the 13th-strongest storm observed at any time in the Arctic, since satellite observations began in 1979.^[2][3]

Although the Great Arctic Cyclone did not cause the record melting of sea ice which occurred in 2012, turbulence from the storm is believed to have contributed to melting of sea ice, due to mechanical ice breakup and the rise of warmer saltier water from below;^[4] however the main oceanic heat source, associated with inflowing Atlantic water, remained isolated from the turbulence.^[5]

On August 2, 2012, an extratropical low formed over

The Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012 became the strongest Arctic storm in the summer on record, since records began in 1979. At its peak intensity of 962 mbar (28.4 inHg),[1] the Great Arctic Cyclone was also the 13th-strongest Arctic storm overall, since reliable records began.^[3]

• Polar low
• Polar vortex
• November 2011 Bering Sea cyclone
• November 2014 Bering Sea cyclone