Tropical cyclones in 2022

Tropical cyclones in 2022
Year summary map
Year boundaries
First system	Cody
Formed	January 5, 2022
Strongest system
Name	Batsirai
Lowest pressure	934 mbar/hPa; 27.58 inHg
Longest lasting system
Name	Batsirai
Duration	16 days
Year statistics
Total systems	34
Named systems	16
Total fatalities	332 total
Total damage	> $53.336 million (2022 USD)
Related articles 2022 Atlantic hurricane season 2022 Pacific hurricane season 2022 Pacific typhoon season 2022 North Indian Ocean cyclone season 2021–22 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season 2021–22 Australian region cyclone season 2021–22 South Pacific cyclone season
Other years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

In 2022, tropical cyclones have formed in seven major bodies of water, commonly known as tropical cyclone basins. Tropical cyclones will be named by various weather agencies when they attain maximum sustained winds of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). So far, thirty-four systems have formed, of which sixteen were named. The strongest storm so far was Cyclone Batsirai, with maximum 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a minimum pressure of 934 hPa (27.58 inHg) and, so far, Batsirai is the deadliest tropical cyclone of the year, which killed 121 people in Madagascar and 2 in Mauritius. Batsirai is also, so far, the costliest tropical cyclone of the year, amassing more than $50 million dollars in damages. Five Category 3 major tropical cyclones, while no Category 5 tropical cyclones formed during the year.

Tropical cyclones are primarily monitored by a ten warning centers across the world, these centers are designated as a Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) or a Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC) by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These ten centers are the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Météo-France (MFR), Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), Papua New Guinea's National Weather Service (PNGNWS), the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) as well as New Zealand's MetService. Other notable warning centres include the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the United States's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), and the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center.

Global atmospheric and hydrological conditions[]

Two tropical cyclones simultaneously active in the Southern Hemisphere on January 9: Cyclone Tiffany (left), nearing landfall in Queensland, Australia and the tropical depression which eventually became Cody (right), near Fiji.

The La Niña that started in the fourth quarter of 2021 is expected to continue into at least the first quarter of 2022, with a 87% chance of it persisting between the period of December 2021 to February 2022.^[1]

Summary[]

Western Pacific Ocean[]

North Indian Ocean[]

2022 North Indian Ocean cyclone season summary map

The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has commenced from 3 March by formation of Depression BOB 01 in the Southwest Bay of Bengal. It was a rare depression and only the ninth such system to form in the month of March since reliable records began in 1891. It was also the first northern hemisphere system of this year. The depression peaked as a deep depression and dissipated on 6 March. Similarly on 20 March, another depression has formed in the Andaman Sea becoming the only season in the Indian Ocean basin to witness two systems in the month of March.

South-West Indian Ocean[]

January - June[]

2021–22 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season summary map

On January 20, A zone of disturbed weather formed northeast of Madagascar making it the first system of the season. The storm then made landfall over Madagascar while it struggled to develop. After entering the Mozambique Channel, the system developed into Tropical Storm Ana which became the latest first named storm in the basin since the 1997–98 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. Ana then made landfall over Mozambique and rapidly weakened. The storm killed 115 people and caused severe damage.

Shortly after Ana, Cyclone Batsirai formed northwest of Mauritius. It the intensified into a Category 2 tropical cyclone but was downgraded back to a tropical storm status due to its eye collapsing. As Batsirai approached Réunion and Mauritius, the storm rapidly intensified into a high-end Category 4 cyclone which became the first major cyclone of the year. Batsirai then made severe landfall on Madagascar, destroying many buildings and disrupting power and communication services on the island. After landfall, Batsirai weakened as it travelled across Madagascar. The storm, so far, has killed at least 123 people, with the death totals most likely on the rise. On February 7 at 06:00 UTC, Batsirai dissipated, but, later in the day, at 18:00 UTC, Batsirai reformed.

During the beginning of February, Tropical Storm Cliff formed, however it dissipated two days later without affecting any landmass, with the closest being Diego Garcia. Later in the month, Tropical Storm Dumako formed. Dumako intensified into a Moderate Tropical Storm before making landfall over Madagascar which was already devastated by Cyclone Batsirai weeks prior. On February 15, Cyclone Emnati formed and made landfall on Southern Madagascar. A day later, Tropical Storm Fezile formed, which first originated from the Australian basin. however it struggled to maintain its structure and dissipated 2 days later.

Australian Region[]

January - June[]

2021–22 Australian region cyclone season summary map

The season began with Cyclone Seth and a tropical low from the Australian region, which persisted into 2022. The low dissipated on January 3, while Seth remained active until January 6. On January 9, Tropical Cyclone Tiffany formed, becoming the first named storm in the basin. Tiffany first originated in the Gulf of Carpentaria before curving in the Coral Sea. Tiffany then struck Northern Queensland as a Category 1 tropical cyclone before traveling across Northern Australia where it dissipated. On January 13, 11U formed formed but dissipated the next day. On January 22, two more tropical lows formed where one dissipated a few days later, while the other low entered the South-West Indian Ocean basin where it intensified into Cyclone Batsirai. Additionally, four more tropical lows classified as 16U, 14U, 17U, and 18U formed. 14U dissipated on February 6, and 16U and 18U entered the South Pacific Basin. Later, on February 12, 17U dissipated. The next day, a new tropical low formed, and the BoM designated it as 19U and exited the basin. On February 23, Tropical Low 22U quickly developed and was named Tropical Cyclone Vernon. Afterward, the system underwent rapid intensification and peaked as a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone before interacting with another disturbance to the northwest. A day later, tropical low 20U was designated and 23U was monitored in the Timor Sea, which later became Tropical Cyclone Anika.

South Pacific Ocean[]

January - June[]

2021–22 South Pacific cyclone season summary map

On January 5, a tropical disturbance which was designated as 03F formed and was named Cyclone Cody, making it the first system of 2022.^[2] Until the end of the month, three depressions classified as 04F, 05F, 06F formed. However, they were all short lived.

During the start of February, a tropical low from the Australian basin which was classified as 16U was reclassified as 07F after it entered the basin. The low then dissipated near New Caledonia. A few days later, another low from the Australian basin entered the basin which was then reclassified as 08F. The low then intensified into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale which was then named Dovi by the FMS. Dovi then intensified into its peak strength as a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone before making landfall on New Zealand causing minor flodding. Dovi also caused widespread flooding on the countries of Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

South Atlantic Ocean[]

Systems[]

January[]

Cyclone Batsirai

January was very active, featuring eleven systems with four of them being named. Two systems from 2021, Cyclone Seth and a tropical low from the Australian region persisted into 2022. The first storm of the year started off with Cyclone Cody, which formed northwest of Fiji. The Australian basin saw the formation of Cyclone Tiffany, which affected much of Northern Queensland during the first week of the month. In the South-West Indian Ocean, Tropical Storm Ana became the latest first named storm in the basin, being officially named on January 23. It impacted Madagascar and a number of other Southern African countries with heavy rain. Ana was responsible for a total of 115 deaths. Following Ana, Cyclone Batsirai later formed becoming the second named storm in the basin. Batsirai then intensified into a high-end Intense Tropical Cyclone, or on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, a Category 4 tropical cyclone, becoming the first major tropical cyclone of the year as it passed Mauritius and Réunion. It then made landfall on Madagascar bringing heavy effects and distrubing power on the country. The Southern Hemisphere also saw the formation of seven tropical lows, however most of them never affected any landmass.

February[]

Cyclone Emnati

Cyclone Dovi

February was very active, featuring fifteen systems, with eight of them being named. The month started off with Tropical Storm Cliff which formed in the South-West Indian Ocean. Moreover in the basin, Tropical Storm Dumako and Cyclone Emnati both made landfall on Madagascar, which was already devastated by Cyclone Batsirai a month prior. Additionally, Fezile entered the basin from the Australian basin. However, Fezile struggled to keep its structure due to wind shear and dissipated a few days later. The South Pacific basin saw the formation of Severe Tropical Cyclone Dovi along with a tropical disturbance classified as 07F. Dovi intensified into a Category 4 cyclone on the Australian scale before making landfall on New Zealand as an extratropical storm. Dovi caused minor damage on the country along with Vanuatu and New Caledonia. In the Australian region, Cyclones Vernon and Anika developed near the end of the month. Anika made landfall in Kimberley, while Vernon stayed away from any landmass.

March[]

Cyclone Halima

So far in March, six systems have formed, with four of them being named. On March 3, Depression BOB 01 started off the 2022 North Indian Ocean cyclone season unusually early when it formed in the Bay of Bengal and is only the ninth such system to form in the month of March since reliable records began in 1891. BOB 01 was also the first tropical cyclone to form in the Northern Hemisphere in 2022. Similarly, BOB 02 also formed on March 20 becoming the only season in the Indian Ocean basin to witness two systems in the month of March. In the Australian region, Tropical Cyclone Billy formed on March 11 but remained in sea and dissipated on March 17. In the South-West Indian Ocean, Cyclone Gombe formed on March 5 and impacted Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and dissipated on March 17, killing 62 people in those nations.

Global effects[]

Here are a total of 7 tropical cyclone basins that tropical cyclones typically form in. In this table, data from all these basins are added.^[4]

See also[]

• Weather of 2022
• Tropical cyclones by year
• List of earthquakes in 2022
• Tornadoes in 2022

Notes[]

¹ Only systems that formed either on or after January 1, 2022 are counted in the seasonal totals.
² Only systems that formed either before or on December 31, 2022 are counted in the seasonal totals.
³ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the IMD Scale which uses 3-minute sustained winds.
⁴ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the Saffir Simpson Scale which uses 1-minute sustained winds.
⁵ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone are based on Météo-France, which uses wind gusts.

References[]

External links[]

Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers

• US National Hurricane Center. (RSMC Miami) – North Atlantic, Eastern Pacific
• Central Pacific Hurricane Center (RSMC Honolulu) – Central Pacific
• Japan Meteorological Agency (RSMC Tokyo) – West Pacific
• India Meteorological Department (RSMC New Delhi) – Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
• Météo-France – La Reunion (RSMC La Réunion) – South-West Indian Ocean from 30°E to 90°E
• Fiji Meteorological Service (RSMC Nadi) – South Pacific, west of 160°E, north of 25° S

Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers

• Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (TCWC Jakarta) – South Indian Ocean from 90°E to 141°E, generally north of 10°S
• Australian Bureau of Meteorology (TCWC Melbourne) – South Indian Ocean & South Pacific Ocean from 90°E to 160°E, generally south of 10°S
• Papua New Guinea National Weather Service (TCWC Port Moresby) – South Pacific Ocean from 141°E to 160°E, generally north of 10°S
• Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (TCWC Wellington) – South Pacific west of 160°E, south of 25°S

Other Warning Centres

• Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration – Monitors the West Pacific
• Brazilian Navy Hydrography Center - Marine Meteorological Service – Monitors the South Atlantic
• US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre – Monitors the East Pacific, Central Pacific, West Pacific, South Pacific, North Indian Ocean and South-West Indian Ocean