Weather of 2017

Global weather by year
Preceded by 2016	Weather in 2017	Succeeded by 2018

The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2017.

Global conditions[]

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Monthly summary[]

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Summary by weather type[]

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Winter storms and cold waves[]

Floods[]

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Droughts, heat waves, and wildfires[]

Tornadoes[]

Tropical cyclones[]

The first tropical cyclone of the year was a tropical disturbance in the South Pacific, which formed on January 2 over the Solomon Islands. It was the first of 20 tropical cyclones in the South Pacific during the year,^[1][2] including Cyclone Donna, which became the strongest cyclone on record in the basin in the month of May, with 10 minute sustained winds of 205 km/h (125 mph).^[3] In the neighboring Australian basin, there were 28 tropical cyclones, most of them weak;^[1][2] however, Cyclone Ernie in April reached Category 5 intensity on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale, with 10 minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph).^[4] Cyclone Debbie struck Queensland in March, causing A$3.5 billion (US$2.67 billion) in damage and 14 deaths across Australia.^[5][6] In November, Cyclone Cempaka killed 41 people in Indonesia from heavy rainfall.^[7] The south-west Indian Ocean was quiet, with only six tropical cyclones during the year.^[1][2] Of these, Cyclone Dineo in February killed at least 258 people when it moved through Mozambique and Zimbabwe.^[8][9] Cyclone Enawo struck Madagascar in March, killing 78 people.^[10] There was also a subtropical cyclone – Guará – which formed off Brazil in December.^[11]

In the northern hemisphere, activity began on January 7, when a tropical depression formed and later moved across the Philippines, killing 11 people.^[12] It was the first of 41 tropical cyclones in the western Pacific Ocean in the year.^[13] The final two storms of the season – Kai-tak and Tembin – moved through the Philippines in December, together causing 406 deaths.^[8] The year's costliest typhoon was Hato, which left more than US$4.34 billion in damage when it moved ashore southern China near Hong Kong.^[14] In the north Indian Ocean, there were 10 tropical cyclones, which included several deadly storms. Cyclone Ockhi in December killed more than 137 people in Sri Lanka and southern India.^[13][15] There were 20 tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific Ocean, including Tropical Storm Lidia, which killed 20 people when it struck western Mexico.^[13][16]

In the Atlantic Ocean, activity began in April and lasted until November, with 18 tropical cyclones,^[13] including several deadly and costly storms. In August, Hurricane Harvey struck southeastern Texas and subsequently stalled over the state, dropping 60.58 in (1,539 mm) of rainfall; this was the highest amount of precipitation associated with a tropical cyclone in the United States. The rains caused widespread flooding along the storm's path, particularly near Houston, resulting in more than 100 fatalities and US$125 billion in damage, tying Harvey with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as the costliest United States hurricane.^[17] In September, Hurricane Irma struck the northern Lesser Antilles and later Cuba as a Category 5 hurricane, and later Florida at a lower intensity, causing more than US$50 billion in damage and 139 deaths.^[18] Two weeks after Irma, Hurricane Maria struck Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane and later Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane, causing US$90 billion in damage and more than 3,000 deaths, mostly in Puerto Rico.^[19][20][21] Also during the season, Hurricane Nate produced damaging floods across Central America, killing 45 people.^[22]

In addition to the above cyclones, there was a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone called Cyclone Numa, which killed 22 people when it struck Greece.^[23]

Timeline[]

This is a timeline of weather events during 2017. Please note that entries might cross between months, however, all entries are listed by the month they started.

January[]

• January 2 – A tornado outbreak, across the Gulf Coast of the United States, killed four people (non-tornadic) and caused over $250 million (2017 USD) in damage from 36 tornadoes.
• January 10–17 – An ice storm and tornado outbreak across North America killed nine people, injured two others (tornadic), and caused multiple states to declare a state of emergency. The storm produced 11 tornadoes in Texas.
• January 21–24 – A tornado outbreak, windstorm, and nor'easter, across the Southeastern and Northeastern United States and Quebec, killed 22 people (20 tornadic and 2 non-tornadic), injured 204 others, and caused $1.3 billion (2017 USD) in damage from 81 tornadoes, becoming the second-largest January tornado outbreak and the third-largest winter tornado outbreak since 1950 as well as the largest outbreak on record in Georgia. The outbreak was also the second-deadliest outbreak in January since 1950.
  • January 21 – An EF3 tornado in Mississippi killed four people, injured 57 others, and caused $9 million (2017 USD) in damage, while tearing through William Carey University and Hattiesburg, Mississippi on its 31.3 mi (50.4 km) path.
  • January 22 – An EF3 tornado in Georgia killed 11 people and injured 45 others, while passing south of Adel, Georgia, along a 24.88 mi (40.04 km) path.
  • January 22 – An EF3 rain-wrapped wedge (2,200 yards wide) tornado in Georgia killed five people, injured 40 others, and caused $300 million (2017 USD) in damage along its 70.69 mi (113.76 km) path. The National Weather Service issued tornado emergency when it passed through Albany, Georgia.

February[]

• February 7 – A tornado outbreak, across the Southeastern United States, killed one person, injured 44 others, and caused over $3.44 million (2017 USD) in damage from 15 tornadoes.
  • February 7 – An EF3 tornado in New Orleans, Louisiana injured 33 people and caused $2.7 million (2017 USD) in damage along its 10.09 mi (16.24 km) path.
• February 25 – Five tornadoes touch down in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Massachusetts, including an EF1, which became the first Massachusetts tornado on record during the month of February.
• February 28–March 1 – A tornado outbreak, across the Central United States, Ohio Valley, Eastern United States and Southern United States, killed four people, injured 68 people (38 tornadic and 30 non-tornadic), and caused $1.3 billion (2017 USD) in damage.

March[]

• March 6–7 – A tornado outbreak across the Central United States injured 19 people from 63 tornadoes.
• March 9–18 – A blizzard across North America, unofficially named Winter Storm Stella, Blizzard Eugene, and Blizzard of 2017, killed 16-19 people and caused over 100,000 power outages. The storm system also spawned three tornadoes in Florida and wind gusts of 138 mph (222 km/h) were reported on Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

April[]

May[]

• May 15-20 - A tornado outbreak sequence killed 2 people and injured 38 more from 134 tornadoes.

June[]

July[]

• July 15 – Flash floods near Payson, Arizona killed ten people and injured four others.

August[]

• August 6 – Four tornadoes around Tulsa, Oklahoma injured 30 people and caused $50.24 million (2017 USD) in damage.
• August 17 – September 2 – Hurricane Harvey kills 103 people due to extreme flooding in Texas. It also kills one in Guyana, two in Arkansas, one in Tennessee and one in Kentucky. Overall it causes 108 deaths and $125 billion in damages, tying it with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest hurricane.
• August 30 - September 12 - Hurricane Irma strikes the Caribbean Sea and Southeastern United States, causing 134 deaths and over $77.8 billion.

September[]

October[]

• October 28-29 - Tropical Storm Philippe caused 5 deaths and $100 million in damage across Central America and Florida.
• October 28-31 - A storm complex causes $100 million and 1.3 million power outages.

November[]

December[]

• December 23, 2017 – January 19, 2018 – A cold wave caused damaging low temperatures across eastern North America. The cold wave also caused Tallahassee, Florida to receive trace amounts of frozen precipitation for the first time in more than 30 years.

See also[]

Weather year articles (2010–2019)
2010, , , 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

References[]