Tropical Storm Norman (2012)

A tropical wave emerged into the Atlantic Ocean from the west coast of Africa on September 12. The wave moved westward across the Atlantic basin with minimal deep convection. By September 23, it reached the eastern Pacific Ocean and began increasing in shower and thunderstorm activity over the next few days. While located near Acapulco another burst in convection occurred on September 25, likely due to interaction with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Around that time, the National Hurricane Center began Tropical Weather Outlooks (TWOs) on the system, which is information issued every six hours on significant areas of disturbed weather and their potential for development out to 48 hours. The tropical wave split on September 26, with the northern portion moving northwestward near the southwestern coast of Mexico. By September 27, the system had organized deep convection and was producing tropical storm force winds, but data from scatterometers indicated that it lacked a closed circulation. the chances for tropical cyclogenesis was decreased later that day, due to the system's close proximity to land. On September 28, satellite data and ships' observations indicated a closed circulation. Thus, Tropical Storm Norman developed at 0600 UTC, while located about southeast of Cabo San Lucas. Early on September 29, the storm curved northwestward and was downgraded to a tropical depression due to difficulty in locating the center of circulation and significant disorganization. Norman made landfall near Topolobampo with winds of 35 mph (55 km/h) at 0500 UTC on September 29. Shortly thereafter, the storm re-curved west-northwestward and re-emerged into the Gulf of California. Norman degenerated into a remnant low pressure area at 1200 UTC on September 29. The remnant low moved slowly west-southwestward, before dissipating over Baja California Sur near Loreto on September 30. ==Preparations and impact==

The Government of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning along the Pacific coast of Mexico from La Cruz, Sinaloa to Huatabampo at 1500 UTC on September 28. Early on the following day, the tropical storm warning was discontinued. Officials deployed 400 soldiers in the cities of La Paz and Los Cabos. According to the state director of Civil Protection, Carlos Enriquez Rincon, 500 schools were available to operate as temporary shelters. The shelters have a capacity of around 30,000 people, though only 65 people spent the first night of the storm in shelters. Furthermore, a total of 5,000 food packages were sent to residents. In the mainland, authorities in the municipality of Culiacán opened 53 shelters, with a total capacity of over 7,000. In addition, classes were suspended in 5 states. Tropical Storm Norman brought extremely heavy rains to Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Durango, and Zacatecas. Due to mudslides and wash flooding over 24 cars were swept away in La Paz. In Sinaloa, the rains caused by Norman did not represent an important contribution to the 11 dams in the state, with mean water levels rising from 42.5% to 42.6%. Eight fisherman were rescued near the port of Mazatlan when their boat tipped over. A peak rainfall total of fell on La Pryor. At Camp Mabry in Austin, of rain fell in a 24‑hour period, breaking a daily precipitation record set in 1985. However, across the central portion of the state, rainfall from the system was less than expected. A few roads in Wimberley were temporarily closed due to flooding. One woman was killed in Nacogdoches County after her car was swept off a roadway. A tornado warning was also issued in the Corpus Christi area. ==See also==