Tony (2012)

A low-pressure disturbance that tracked westward from near Africa developed into a tropical depression about 620 nautical miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands on 22 October 2012. The system moved north and then turned northeast as it became Tropical Storm Tony early on 24 October. Tony maintained a generally east-northeastward track across the central Atlantic, accelerated, weakened beginning late on 25 October, became extratropical about 25 October evening, and dissipated several hundred nautical miles south of the Azores by 26 October.

Tony did not make landfall at any time during its life. It remained well over the open central Atlantic from formation through extratropical transition, and no coastal watches or warnings were required.

The storm’s peak intensity was 45 kt (about 52 mph) with a minimum central pressure of 1000 mb, reached around 1200 UTC 24 October. At peak it was a moderate tropical storm (below hurricane strength) and sustained that peak for roughly 24 hours while moving east-northeast.

Because Tony remained far from land, there were no measured storm surge reports associated with the cyclone and no inland rainfall totals tied to the storm in the report. No reliable ship reports of tropical-storm-force winds were recorded.

There were no reports of damage or casualties—no direct or indirect deaths—and no notable destruction associated with Tony. The regions most affected in observational terms were the central Atlantic marine areas through which the storm passed, rather than inhabited coastlines.

Noteworthy items: Tony’s development was anticipated in forecasts several days before formation but the predicted chance of development was not raised to “high” prior to genesis. Track forecast errors for this short-lived storm were larger than recent averages at some lead times, while intensity forecasts were relatively accurate because Tony did not undergo rapid changes in strength.