Lane (2012)

A tropical depression formed from a westward-moving tropical wave on 15 September 2012 about 940 nautical miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It strengthened to a tropical storm later that day and moved generally westward then north-northwest over the next few days. Lane became a hurricane on 17 September and began weakening on 18 September as it moved over cooler water and into stronger wind shear. The system lost organized deep convection on 19 September and became a remnant low, which dissipated by about 20 September roughly 1,300 nautical miles west of Cabo San Lucas.

Lane did not make any landfalls. It remained well offshore of Mexico and other land areas for its entire life, and no coastal watches or warnings were required.

The hurricane reached a maximum sustained wind of 75 knots (85 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 985 millibars around 0000 UTC 18 September, classifying it as a Category 1 hurricane at peak intensity. After peak, winds decreased and the system was downgraded back to a tropical storm by 18 September.

Because Lane stayed far from shore, there were no reported storm surge impacts tied to the cyclone and no reported rainfall totals from land stations attributable to Lane in the NHC report. No ships reported tropical-storm-force winds.

There were no reported deaths or damage associated with Lane. The main impacts were limited to the open ocean and did not affect populated areas.

Forecasters anticipated the system’s development well in advance: the disturbance was first mentioned in the Tropical Weather Outlook about 42 hours before genesis, and official track and intensity forecasts performed better than recent averages. Some numerical track models actually outperformed the official forecast by more accurately predicting Lane’s turn toward the north-northwest.