August 2022 Tropical Cyclones Report

Summary

Nine named storms occurred across the globe in August. Four of those reached tropical cyclone strength (74 mph), including the first Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale Category 5 tropical cyclone (≥157 mph) of 2022: Super Typhoon Hinnamnor. With only nine named storms, August 2022 saw the fewest storms on record since 1981 when global data became more reliable. The global accumulated cyclone energy (ACE: an integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms) for August was also the lowest since 1981. The tropical cyclone activity for January-August remains below normal.

No tropical storms were active over the North Atlantic in August for just the third time since 1950. The other two years were 1961 and 1997. A major El Niño event in 1997 contributed to the lack of activity that year, but an ongoing La Niña this year would typically favor tropical cyclones over the Atlantic. There were also no hurricanes during January-August for just the seventh time since 1950, and only 1988 had less ACE over that period.

The East Pacific had three named storms including Hurricane Frank which formed during July. One storm, Hurricane Howard, became a hurricane during August. The ACE for August was the lowest since 1981, but the January-August ACE is near normal.

The West Pacific had four named storms, two of which became typhoons. The strongest was Super Typhoon Hinnamnor, which was the first Category 5 storm of 2022. It brought heavy rain and flooding as it made landfall in South Korea on September 5 and as a Category 2 storm. Despite this strong storm, the West Pacific ACE for August was about half its normal value. January-August activity remains among the lowest on record.

The North Indian Ocean had two named storms in August. Each only lasted for about 24 hours. However, only two other Augusts (1979 and 1982) have ever had a North Indian Ocean storm. This was the first time on record to have multiple storms in one August. The four named storms for January-August is tied with three other years (1992, 1996, 2007) for the most on record. No storms formed in the Southern Hemisphere during August, which is normal.

North Atlantic

No North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones occurred during August 2022.

North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1851-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	3.8	41st (tied with 1 other August)	8 (1995, 2004, 2012)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	1.8	34th (tied with 8 other Augusts)	5 (1893, 1995, 2004)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.9 (9 in 10 Augusts)	25th (tied with 17 other Augusts)	3 (1886, 1893, 2004)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	26.7	41st (tied with 1 other August)	119.7 (1893)

North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1851-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	3	6.4	33rd (tied with 6 other seasons)	13 (2020)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	2.4	37th (tied with 5 other seasons)	7 (1886, 1893)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	1.0	25th (tied with 17 other seasons)	3 (6 seasons)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	2.7	36.3	41st	135.6 (1893)

East Pacific

August 2022 East Pacific Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Frank	1	July 26-August 2Jul 26-Aug 2	90 mph†	975 mb†
Howard	1	August 7Aug 7-10	85 mph	983 mb
Ivette	TS	August 15Aug 15	40 mph	1005 mb
†Value occurred in July

East Pacific Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1949-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	3	4.6	34th (tied with 5 other Augusts)	10 (1968)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	2	2.4	18th (tied with 15 other Augusts)	6 (1972, 2014, 2015)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	1.3	29th (tied with 13 other Augusts)	4 (1972, 1993, 2014, 2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	6.4	38.0	42nd	127.5 (2018)

East Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1949-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	10	10.3	25th (tied with 3 other seasons)	17 (1985)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	7	5.4	10th (tied with 3 other seasons)	10 (1978, 1990, 2015)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	2	2.9	21st (tied with 11 other seasons)	7 (2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	80.7	80.3	16th	171.1 (1978)

West Pacific

August 2022 West Pacific Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Meari	TS	August 11Aug 11-14	45 mph	990 mb
Ma-On	TS	August 22Aug 22-25	70 mph	985 mb
Tokage	2	August 22Aug 22-25	105 mph	956 mb
Hinnamnor	5	August 28-September 6Aug 28-Sep 6	160 mph	915 mb‡
‡Value occurred in September

West Pacific Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1945-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	4	6.6	36th (tied with 4 other Augusts)	11 (1960, 1967, 2018)
Typhoon Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	2	3.9	33rd (tied with 5 other Augusts)	9 (1960, 1962)
Major Typhoon Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	2.0	24th (tied with 12 other Augusts)	4 (5 Augusts)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	28.3	58.2	36th	123.4 (1953)

West Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1945-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	8	14.3	39th (tied with 2 other seasons)	25 (2018)
Typhoon Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	4	8.1	37th (tied with 4 other seasons)	15 (1971)
Major Typhoon Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	2	4.3	31st (tied with 8 other seasons)	10 (2002)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	50.5	131.7	38th	314.2 (2015)

North Indian

August 2022 North Indian Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Not_Named	TS	August 12Aug 12-13	40 mph	989 mb
Not_Named	TS	August 18Aug 18-19	50 mph	990 mb

North Indian Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	2	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st	2‖ (2022)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 41 other Augusts)	0
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 41 other Augusts)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	1.2	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st	1.2** (2022)
‖Previous record 1 (1979, 1983)
**Previous record 0.6 (1983)

North Indian Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	4	1.9	1st (tied with 3 other seasons)	4 (1992, 1996, 2007, 2022)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	0.8 (8 in 10 seasons)	7th (tied with 15 other seasons)	2 (6 seasons)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.5 (5 in 10 seasons)	17th (tied with 25 other seasons)	2 (2019)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	7.2	9.8	18th	38.0 (2019)

South Indian

No South Indian Tropical Cyclones occurred during August 2022.

South Indian Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Augusts)	4th (tied with 39 other Augusts)	1 (1987, 1997, 2001)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.1 (1 in 10 Augusts)	4th (tied with 39 other Augusts)	2.2 (1997)

South Indian Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.2 (2 in 10 seasons)	8th (tied with 35 other seasons)	1 (7 seasons)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 42 other seasons)	0
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 42 other seasons)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.3 (3 in 10 seasons)	8th (tied with 35 other seasons)	2.7 (2017)

Australia

No Australia Tropical Cyclones occurred during August 2022.

Australia Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0.0

Australia Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	1	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 4 other seasons)	1 (5 seasons)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 42 other seasons)	0
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 42 other seasons)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	1.5	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	1st	1.5†† (2023)
††Previous record 1.0 (2016)

Southwest Pacific

No Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclones occurred during August 2022.

Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	2nd (tied with 41 other Augusts)	1 (2016)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	1st (tied with 42 other Augusts)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.0 (0 in 10 Augusts)	2nd (tied with 41 other Augusts)	0.8 (2016)

Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	3rd (tied with 40 other seasons)	1 (1963, 2015, 2016)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 42 other seasons)	0
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	1st (tied with 42 other seasons)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	2nd (tied with 41 other seasons)	1.4 (2016)

Global

August 2022 Global Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Frank	1	July 26-August 2Jul 26-Aug 2	90 mph†	975 mb†
Howard	1	August 7Aug 7-10	85 mph	983 mb
Meari	TS	August 11Aug 11-14	45 mph	990 mb
Not_Named	TS	August 12Aug 12-13	40 mph	989 mb
Ivette	TS	August 15Aug 15	40 mph	1005 mb
Not_Named	TS	August 18Aug 18-19	50 mph	990 mb
Ma-On	TS	August 22Aug 22-25	70 mph	985 mb
Tokage	2	August 22Aug 22-25	105 mph	956 mb
Hinnamnor	5	August 28-September 6Aug 28-Sep 6	160 mph	915 mb‡
†Value occurred in July
‡Value occurred in September

Global Tropical Cyclone August Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	9	14.7	42nd	21 (2004)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	4	8.0	40th (tied with 1 other August)	13 (1990)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	4.0	39th (tied with 1 other August)	8 (2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	36.0	123.1	42nd	215.2 (2015)

Global Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-August 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	47	52.6	32nd (tied with 2 other seasons)	64 (1989, 2018)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	20	27.6	41st	37 (1997)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	9	14.5	37th (tied with 1 other season)	25 (2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	269.5	425.1	39th	684.0 (2015)

Data Description

The data in this report are derived from NCEI's IBTrACS dataset (Knapp et al. 2010; Schreck et al. 2014). IBTrACS tropical cyclone track and intensity data from agencies and sources around the globe. In this report, data from NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) are used for the North Atlantic and East Pacific. The other basins use data from the U.S. Military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

Historical values use the "best track" data that have been analyzed by forecasters after the season using all available data. Operational procedures and observing systems have changed with time and between regions, which makes these data heterogeneous. Intensity data are generally the most reliable since the early 1970s in the Atlantic (Landsea and Franklin 2013) and since the mid-1980s in other regions (Chu et al. 2002). The number of short-lived storms (≤2 days) has also increased since around 2000 due to improvements in observations and analysis techniques (Landsea et al. 2010).

Values for the current year are provisional values from the operational forecast advisories. IBTrACS obtains these from NCEP's TC Vitals, the NCAR Tropical Cyclone Guidance Project, and NHC provisional data. These values are subject to change during the post-season best track analysis. They also only include 6-hourly storm fixes, which means they may miss special advisories at landfall, peak intensity, etc.

The tropical cyclone seasons in the Southern Hemisphere begin in July and end in June, while the Northern Hemisphere seasons are counted from January to December. Storms are counted in all basins, months, and years in which they occur, which means some storms may appear more than once. However, the global totals only include each storm one time.

References

• Chu, J.-H., C. R. Sampson, A. S. Levine, and E. Fukada, 2002: The joint typhoon warning center tropical cyclone best-tracks, 1945–2000. Naval Research Laboratory, Reference Number NRL/MR/7540-02-16, 22 pp., https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/best-tracks/tc-bt-report.html.
• Knapp, K. R., M. C. Kruk, D. H. Levinson, H. J. Diamond, and C. J. Neumann, 2010: The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS). Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91, 363–376, https://doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2755.1.
• Landsea, C. W., and J. L. Franklin, 2013: Atlantic Hurricane database uncertainty and presentation of a new database format. Mon. Wea. Rev., 141, 3576–3592, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-12-00254.1.
• ——, G. A. Vecchi, L. Bengtsson, and T. R. Knutson, 2010: Impact of duration thresholds on Atlantic tropical cyclone counts. J. Climate, 23, 2508–2519, https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JCLI3034.1.
• Schreck, C. J., K. R. Knapp, and J. P. Kossin, 2014: The Impact of Best Track Discrepancies on Global Tropical Cyclone Climatologies using IBTrACS. Mon. Wea. Rev., 142, 3881–3899, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-14-00021.1.