January 2023 Tropical Cyclones Report

Summary

Four named storms occurred across the globe in January. One of those reached tropical cyclone strength (≥74 mph), and none reached major tropical cyclone strength (≥111 mph). These counts are all below 1991-2020 averages for January. The global accumulated cyclone energy (ACE: an integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms) was below average in January. No storms were active in the Northern Hemisphere, which is typical for January. On average, the West Pacific has a named storm in about four out of ten Januaries, and January storms are even less common in the other Northern Hemisphere basins.

The South Indian Ocean had the only tropical cyclone-strength storm in January: Cheneso. Cheneso made landfall in northern Madagascar as a tropical storm with heavy rain and flooding. It emerged over the Mozambique Channel and intensified to tropical cyclone strength before moving poleward and transitioning to an extratropical storm. Chenoso was the only named storm in the South Indian Ocean, which had below average activity for January. The South Indian Ocean season July-January has been near normal.

The only named storm in the Australian region was Tropical Storm Hale, which crossed 160°E into the Southwest Pacific during its brief life. This activity was below normal for Australia in January, but the season July-January remains near normal. Including Hale, the Southwest Pacific had three named storms, which is more than normal. However, all three were short-lived tropical storms, so the overall activity was less than normal for January and for July-January.

North Atlantic

No North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones occurred during January 2023.

North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1851-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Januaries)	3rd (tied with 40 other Januaries)	1 (6 Januarys)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Januaries)	2nd (tied with 41 other Januaries)	1 (1938, 1955, 2016)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Januaries)	1st (tied with 42 other Januaries)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.3 (3 in 10 Januaries)	3rd (tied with 40 other Januaries)	6.5 (1955)

North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1851-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	3rd (tied with 40 other seasons)	1 (6 seasons)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	2nd (tied with 41 other seasons)	1 (1938, 1955, 2016)
Major Hurricane 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)	3rd (tied with 40 other seasons)	6.5 (1955)

East Pacific

No East Pacific Tropical Cyclones occurred during January 2023.

East Pacific Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1949-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Januaries)	4th (tied with 39 other Januaries)	1 (1989, 1992, 2016)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Januaries)	3rd (tied with 40 other Januaries)	1 (1992, 2016)
Major Hurricane Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Januaries)	1st (tied with 42 other Januaries)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.5 (5 in 10 Januaries)	4th (tied with 39 other Januaries)	9.0 (2016)

East Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1949-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	4th (tied with 39 other seasons)	1 (1989, 1992, 2016)
Hurricane Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	3rd (tied with 40 other seasons)	1 (1992, 2016)
Major Hurricane 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	0.5 (5 in 10 seasons)	4th (tied with 39 other seasons)	9.0 (2016)

West Pacific

No West Pacific Tropical Cyclones occurred during January 2023.

West Pacific Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1945-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.4 (4 in 10 Januaries)	19th (tied with 24 other Januaries)	2 (1957, 1965, 1978, 1985)
Typhoon Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 Januaries)	8th (tied with 35 other Januaries)	1 (19 Januarys)
Major Typhoon Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Januaries)	3rd (tied with 40 other Januaries)	1 (8 Januarys)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	1.2	19th (tied with 24 other Januaries)	44.7 (1958)

West Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1945-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.4 (4 in 10 seasons)	19th (tied with 24 other seasons)	2 (1957, 1965, 1978, 1985)
Typhoon Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.1 (1 in 10 seasons)	8th (tied with 35 other seasons)	1 (19 seasons)
Major Typhoon Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 seasons)	3rd (tied with 40 other seasons)	1 (8 seasons)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	1.2	19th (tied with 24 other seasons)	44.7 (1958)

North Indian

No North Indian Tropical Cyclones occurred during January 2023.

North Indian Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1972-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.2 (2 in 10 Januaries)	7th (tied with 36 other Januaries)	1 (6 Januarys)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Januaries)	1st (tied with 42 other Januaries)	0
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.0 (0 in 10 Januaries)	1st (tied with 42 other Januaries)	0
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.0	0.2 (2 in 10 Januaries)	7th (tied with 36 other Januaries)	1.5 (1986)

North Indian Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1972-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	0	0.2 (2 in 10 seasons)	7th (tied with 36 other seasons)	1 (6 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	0.2 (2 in 10 seasons)	7th (tied with 36 other seasons)	1.5 (1986)

South Indian

January 2023 South Indian Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Cheneso	1	January 17Jan 17-29	90 mph	967 mb

South Indian Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1956-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	1	2.6	34th (tied with 6 other Januaries)	6 (1997)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	1.5	20th (tied with 16 other Januaries)	4 (2018)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.8 (8 in 10 Januaries)	25th (tied with 18 other Januaries)	3 (2001)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	10.4	20.9	30th	57.1 (2015)

South Indian Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July 2022-January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1956-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	4	5.2	27th (tied with 3 other seasons)	12 (1997)
Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	2	2.6	26th (tied with 5 other seasons)	6 (1997)
Major Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	1.5	15th (tied with 17 other seasons)	4 (1997, 2014)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	44.2	39.6	21st	108.3 (1997)

Australia

January 2023 Australia Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Hale	TS	January 6Jan 6-8	50 mph	992 mb

Australia Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1956-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	1	2.3	29th (tied with 9 other Januaries)	6 (1986, 2021)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	0.9 (9 in 10 Januaries)	24th (tied with 19 other Januaries)	3 (5 Januarys)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.2 (2 in 10 Januaries)	6th (tied with 37 other Januaries)	2 (1997)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	0.6	9.1	37th	55.9 (1994)

Australia Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July 2022-January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1956-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	5	4.3	15th (tied with 5 other seasons)	11 (1997)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	1.8	18th (tied with 16 other seasons)	6 (1996)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	1	0.6 (6 in 10 seasons)	3rd (tied with 14 other seasons)	2 (1997, 2014)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	13.3	19.6	22nd	62.0 (1997)

Southwest Pacific

January 2023 Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Hale	TS	January 6Jan 6-8	50 mph	992 mb†
Irene	TS	January 18Jan 18-19	60 mph	992 mb
Not_Named	TS	January 20Jan 20-21	40 mph	999 mb
†Value occurred in the Southwest Pacific

Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1956-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	3	1.9	5th (tied with 6 other Januaries)	5 (1998, 2011)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	1.1	29th (tied with 14 other Januaries)	3 (1997, 2011)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.4 (4 in 10 Januaries)	13th (tied with 30 other Januaries)	2 (1998, 2003, 2008)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	1.9	12.7	33rd	64.2 (1998)

Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Counts July 2022-January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1956-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	3	3.0	15th (tied with 5 other seasons)	11 (1998)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	0	1.7	32nd (tied with 11 other seasons)	6 (1998)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	0.8 (8 in 10 seasons)	20th (tied with 23 other seasons)	3 (1998, 2003, 2008)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	1.9	21.1	34th	91.9 (1998)

Global

January 2023 Global Tropical Cyclones

Name	Maximum CategoryMax Cat	Dates >39 mph	Maximum Sustained Winds	Minimum Central Pressure
Hale	TS	January 6Jan 6-8	50 mph	992 mb
Cheneso	1	January 17Jan 17-29	90 mph	967 mb
Irene	TS	January 18Jan 18-19	60 mph	992 mb
Not_Named	TS	January 20Jan 20-21	40 mph	999 mb

Global Tropical Cyclone January Counts

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1972-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	4	6.9	39th (tied with 1 other January)	11 (1986, 1997)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	3.3	38th (tied with 3 other Januaries)	7 (1997)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	1.4	32nd (tied with 11 other Januaries)	4 (2001)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	12.9	44.8	41st	110.0 (1994)

Global Tropical Cyclone Season Counts January 2023

Storm Type	Count	1991-2020 Mean	1981-2023 Rank*	1972-2023 Record
Tropical Storm Winds ≥ 39 mph (34 kts)	4	6.9	39th (tied with 1 other season)	11 (1986, 1997)
Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 74 mph (64 kts)	1	3.3	38th (tied with 3 other seasons)	7 (1997)
Major Tropical Cyclone Winds ≥ 111 mph (96 kts)	0	1.4	32nd (tied with 11 other seasons)	4 (2001)
Accumulated Cyclone Energy ACE×10⁴ kt²	12.9	44.8	41st	110.0 (1994)

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.