On August 2, 2012, an extratropical low formed over
Siberia. During the next few days, the storm slowly drifted into the Arctic Ocean, while gradually strengthening. On August 5, the storm reached the
Arctic Ocean and began to rapidly intensify, while drifting closer to the
North Pole. On August 6, the extratropical cyclone reached a peak intensity of , while centered about halfway between
Alaska and the North Pole. At this point, the Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012 was the strongest summer Arctic storm on record, since the beginning of records in 1979. Afterward, the storm slowly began to weaken, while drifting towards
Canada. On August 12, the cyclone made landfall in the northern
Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and slowly moved eastward across land, while rapidly weakening. Late on August 14, the Arctic cyclone dissipated over the far northern reaches of Canada. ==Records==