Kirk (2012)

A tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on 22 August developed a closed circulation and became a tropical depression near 1800 UTC 28 August about 1,120 nautical miles southwest of the western Azores. The system moved west to northwest, became Tropical Storm Kirk on 29 August, and strengthened into a hurricane on 30 August as wind shear relaxed. Kirk reached peak strength late on 30–31 August, then turned north and northeast into the westerlies, weakened to a tropical storm on 1 September, and became extratropical near 0000 UTC 3 September about 900 n mi north of the Azores before being absorbed by a larger low a few hours later.

Kirk did not make landfall during its life. Its track remained well out in the central and northeastern Atlantic; therefore no coastal warnings were issued and no watches were required.

The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds reached an estimated 90 knots (105 mph) at around 0600–0800 UTC 31 August, with a minimum central pressure of about 970 mb. At peak intensity Kirk was a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Kirk was a relatively small cyclone, with tropical-storm-force winds confined generally within about 70–100 nautical miles of the center.

Because Kirk remained far offshore, there were no reports of storm surge impacts on land. Rainfall and surge observations associated with the cyclone were not reported for specific towns or counties in the Tropical Cyclone Report, and no coastal tide or inland rainfall totals of note were documented for populated locations.

There were no reported deaths or damage related to Kirk. The cyclone’s impacts to land were effectively nil because it stayed over open ocean for its entire life.

Noteworthy items: genesis of Kirk was poorly forecast in the days before formation, and forecasters initially underestimated its intensification. Kirk was a small storm, and no surface observations of tropical-storm-force winds were recorded. Official track forecasts were better than climatology at short lead times but had larger errors at longer ranges, while intensity forecasts underpredicted the early strengthening and then overestimated the rate of subsequent weakening.