December 2022 Tropical Cyclones Report

Summary

Five named storms occurred across the globe in December. Of those, only Major Cyclone Darian reached tropical cyclone strength (≥74 mph) or major tropical cyclone strength (≥111 mph). The global accumulated cyclone energy (ACE: an integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms) was near normal in December.

The West Pacific had one tropical storm in December, and the resulting ACE was below average. Two tropical storms formed in the North Indian Ocean, and the ACE was near normal.

The South Indian Ocean had the only major tropical cyclone in December, Darian, which formed in the Australian region before crossing 90°E. It remained far out to sea with minimal impacts. The ACE for the South Indian Ocean was about three times its normal value for December. The ACE for July-December is nearly twice its normal value.

The Australian region had one other marginal tropical storm in December. The ACE was near normal for December and above normal for July-December. No storms have been active in the Southwest Pacific during July-December, which is not unusual.

North Atlantic

No North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones occurred during December 2022.

North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1851-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.3 (3 in 10 Decembers)	10th (tied with 32 other Decembers)	3 (1887)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Decembers)	4th (tied with 38 other Decembers)	1 (7 Decembers)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Decembers)	1st (tied with 41 other Decembers)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.8 (8 in 10 Decembers)	10th (tied with 32 other Decembers)	16.2 (1984)

North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1851-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	14	14.4	18th (tied with 3 other seasons)	30 (2020)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	8	7.2	11th (tied with 5 other seasons)	15 (2005)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	2	3.2	21st (tied with 10 other seasons)	7 (2005, 2020)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	95.0	122.5	24th	258.6 (1933)

East Pacific

No East Pacific Tropical Cyclones occurred during December 2022.

East Pacific Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1949-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Decembers)	4th (tied with 38 other Decembers)	1 (5 Decembers)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Decembers)	2nd (tied with 40 other Decembers)	1 (1957, 1983)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Decembers)	1st (tied with 41 other Decembers)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.2 (2 in 10 Decembers)	4th (tied with 38 other Decembers)	11.7 (1957)

East Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1949-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	19	17.0	16th (tied with 4 other seasons)	27 (1992)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	10	8.8	13th (tied with 5 other seasons)	16 (1990, 1992, 2014, 2015)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	4	4.6	21st (tied with 4 other seasons)	11 (2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	117.0	132.8	21st	318.1 (2018)

West Pacific

December 2022 West Pacific Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Pakhar	TS	December 11Dec 11-12	60 mph	992 mb

West Pacific Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1945-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	1	1.4	23rd (tied with 13 other Decembers)	4 (1952, 1986, 2001)
Typhoon Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.8 (8 in 10 Decembers)	29th (tied with 13 other Decembers)	3 (1986)
Major Typhoon Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.5 (5 in 10 Decembers)	21st (tied with 21 other Decembers)	2 (8 Decembers)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	1.1	13.7	35th	72.1 (1959)

West Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1945-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	22	26.3	35th (tied with 3 other seasons)	38 (1964)
Typhoon Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	12	16.1	34th (tied with 3 other seasons)	26 (1964)
Major Typhoon Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	5	9.4	37th (tied with 2 other seasons)	16 (2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	160.6	299.7	37th	588.3 (1997)

North Indian

December 2022 North Indian Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Mandoug	TS	December 8Dec 8-9	60 mph	989 mb
Not_Named	TS	December 15Dec 15-16	50 mph	999 mb

North Indian Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	2	0.9 (9 in 10 Decembers)	2nd (tied with 6 other Decembers)	3 (2005)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.3 (3 in 10 Decembers)	11th (tied with 31 other Decembers)	1 (10 Decembers)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Decembers)	2nd (tied with 40 other Decembers)	1 (2017)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	2.6	2.8	14th	11.0 (2017)

North Indian Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	7	5.5	6th (tied with 2 other seasons)	11 (1992)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	2.1	23rd (tied with 12 other seasons)	6 (2019)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	1.1	26th (tied with 16 other seasons)	5 (2019)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	10.6	24.6	34th	93.0 (2019)

South Indian

December 2022 South Indian Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Darian	4	December 18Dec 18-31	155 mph	922 mb

South Indian Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	1	1.4	18th (tied with 13 other Decembers)	4 (1980)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	0.7 (7 in 10 Decembers)	6th (tied with 16 other Decembers)	3 (2014, 2020)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	0.5 (5 in 10 Decembers)	4th (tied with 9 other Decembers)	3 (2014)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	31.3	10.1	5th	54.9 (2014)

South Indian Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	3	3.0	16th (tied with 8 other seasons)	6 (1997)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	1.2	16th (tied with 13 other seasons)	3 (7 seasons)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	0.8 (8 in 10 seasons)	8th (tied with 10 other seasons)	3 (2014, 2019)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	33.8	18.7	7th	71.2 (1997)

Australia

December 2022 Australia Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Darian	4	December 18Dec 18-31	155 mph†	922 mb†
Ellie	TS	December 22Dec 22	45 mph	994 mb
†Value occurred in the South Indian

Australia Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	2	1.5	6th (tied with 15 other Decembers)	4 (1997)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	0.8 (8 in 10 Decembers)	6th (tied with 17 other Decembers)	2 (6 Decembers)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	0.4 (4 in 10 Decembers)	2nd (tied with 9 other Decembers)	2 (2014)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	10.5	8.8	15th	33.7 (1999)

Australia Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	4	2.3	5th (tied with 4 other seasons)	7 (1997)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	1.0 (10 in 10 seasons)	8th (tied with 19 other seasons)	3 (1996, 1999)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	0.4 (4 in 10 seasons)	2nd (tied with 10 other seasons)	2 (2014)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	12.7	10.5	9th	42.6 (1999)

Southwest Pacific

No Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclones occurred during December 2022.

Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.7 (7 in 10 Decembers)	23rd (tied with 20 other Decembers)	3 (5 Decembers)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.5 (5 in 10 Decembers)	16th (tied with 27 other Decembers)	2 (1987, 1992, 2013)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.3 (3 in 10 Decembers)	8th (tied with 35 other Decembers)	2 (1992, 2013)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	6.3	23rd (tied with 20 other Decembers)	47.1 (1992)

Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1956-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	1.3	26th (tied with 17 other seasons)	6 (1998)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.7 (7 in 10 seasons)	19th (tied with 24 other seasons)	4 (1998)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.4 (4 in 10 seasons)	11th (tied with 32 other seasons)	2 (1992, 2013)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	8.5	25th (tied with 18 other seasons)	47.2 (1992)

Global

December 2022 Global Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Mandoug	TS	December 8Dec 8-9	60 mph	989 mb
Pakhar	TS	December 11Dec 11-12	60 mph	992 mb
Not_Named	TS	December 15Dec 15-16	50 mph	999 mb
Darian	4	December 18Dec 18-31	155 mph	922 mb
Ellie	TS	December 22Dec 22	45 mph	994 mb

Global Tropical Cyclone December Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	5	6.1	25th (tied with 5 other Decembers)	10 (1996, 1998)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	3.0	37th (tied with 5 other Decembers)	6 (1991, 1998, 2019)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	1.6	16th (tied with 20 other Decembers)	4 (1991, 2012, 2013, 2019)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	45.4	43.5	18th	88.7 (2012)

Global Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January-December 2022

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2022 Rank*	1972-2022 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	88	88.0	18th (tied with 1 other season)	106 (2020)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	40	47.8	33rd (tied with 1 other season)	59 (1990, 2018)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	17	25.7	38th (tied with 1 other season)	39 (2015)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	556.6	784.3	39th	1,148.5 (1992)

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.