Tropical Storm Kent making landfall in Kyushu, Japan on August 18. In the vicinity of Kent are Lois, Mark and Nina, which were either tropical storms or tropical depressions at this time.
The year 1992 featured the highest amount of accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) on record, with an ACE rating of 1,163.1 units.[1] It would be regarded as one of the most intense tropical cyclone years on record. Throughout the year, 111 tropical cyclones formed, of which 101 were given names by various weather agencies. Five Category 5 tropical cyclones would form in 1992.
In January, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which allows for the formation of tropical waves, is located in the Southern Hemisphere, remaining there until May.[2] This limits Northern Hemisphere cyclone formation to comparatively rare non-tropical sources.[3] In addition, the month's climate is also an important factor. In the Southern Hemisphere basins, January, at the height of the austral summer, is the most active month by cumulative number of storms since records began. Of the four Northern Hemisphere basins, none is very active in January, as the month is during the winter, but the most active basin is the Western Pacific, which occasionally sees weak tropical storms form during the month.[4] January was mildly active, with six tropical cyclones forming, while four were named.[5]
Tropical Storm Bryna from the South-West Indian Ocean persisted into 1992 and made landfall in Madagascar, dropping heavy rainfall and causing some damage and two deaths in Mahajanga. The year began with the formation of Severe Tropical Storm Axel in the Western Pacific Ocean on January 4. During its journey at sea, Axel caused havoc on some islands such as the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, and Mariana Islands in the Federated States of Micronesia; at least $1 million in damages occurred.
In terms of activity, February is normally similar to January, with activity effectively restricted to the Southern Hemisphere excepting the rare Western Pacific storm. In fact, in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the monsoon being at its height,[4] February tends to see more formation of strong tropical cyclones than January despite seeing marginally fewer overall storms. In the Northern Hemisphere, February is the least active month, with no Eastern or Central Pacific tropical cyclones[11] and only one Atlantic tropical cyclone having ever formed in the month.[12] Even in the Western Pacific, February activity is low: in 1992, the month had never seen a typhoon-strength storm, the first being Typhoon Higos in 2015. February 1992 was the record-breaking most active month ever recorded in the history of worldwide tropical cyclogenesis with twelve systems forming and ten storms getting named.
During March, activity tends to be lower than in preceding months. In the Southern Hemisphere, the peak of the season has normally already passed, and the monsoon has begun to weaken, decreasing cyclonic activity, however, the month often sees more intense tropical cyclones than January or February. Meanwhile, in the Northern Hemisphere basins, sea surface temperatures are still far too low to normally support tropical cyclogenesis. The exception is the Western Pacific, which usually sees its first storm, often a weak depression, at some point between January and April.
In 1992, a total of four systems formed during March, all of them intensified into tropical storms. The most intense storm of the month was Cyclone Fran, which formed in the South Pacific Ocean on 4 March. It intensified to attain a pressure of 920hPa (27.17inHg), making Fran the most intense storm thus far in the year. In late March, meteorological conditions similar to what allowed Ekeka to develop persisted in the central Pacific. An area of convection organized into Tropical Depression Two-C, just north of 5˚N, atypically close to the equator, and far to the southwest of Hawaii. Moving west-northwestward, it slowly intensified, intensifying into a tropical storm on March29. Upon doing so, the CPHC gave it the name Hali. Later that day, the storm attained peak winds of 50mph (80km/h), before increased southwesterly wind shear imparted weakening. Hali was downgraded to a tropical depression on March30, and it dissipated shortly thereafter. It never affected land.[27]
The factors that begin to inhibit Southern Hemisphere cyclone formation in March are even more pronounced in April, with the average number of storms formed being hardly half that of March.[4][32] However, even this limited activity exceeds the activity in the Northern Hemisphere, which is rare, with the exception of the Western Pacific basin. All Pacific typhoon seasons between 1998 and 2016 saw activity between January and April, although many of these seasons saw only weak tropical depressions.[33] By contrast, only two Atlantic hurricane seasons during those years saw tropical cyclone formation during that period.[12] With the combination of the decreasing temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere and the still-low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, April and May tend to be the least active months worldwide for tropical cyclone formation.[32]
April 1992 was an example of this phenomenon, with only five tropical cyclones forming, and only three becoming tropical storms, making the month the second-least active of 1992.[32] Of those two storms, the stronger was Tropical Cyclone Jane-Irna, which formed in the Australian region on 8 April and crossed over to the South-West Indian Ocean before dissipating on 14 April. Tropical cyclogenesis in the annual Atlantic hurricane season began with the development of Subtropical Storm One on April 21.
Around the middle of May, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which allows for the formation of tropical waves and has previously remained in the Southern Hemisphere for the first five months of the year, moves to the Northern Hemisphere, allowing the northern cyclone seasons to start in earnest.[2] Without the presence of the ITCZ, Southern Hemisphere cyclones must form from non-wave sources, which are rarer.[3] For that reason, cyclone formation is relatively sparse, with May tending to be the month of the final storm in each of the three basins. Meanwhile, more intense storms are nearly unheard of, with the South-West Indian Ocean having seen only one intense tropical cyclone and no very intense tropical cyclones in the month, and the other two basins having similar levels of activity in May. In the Northern Hemisphere, May is the first month most basins see activity, due to the new presence of the ITCZ. The Pacific hurricane season begins on May 15, and although the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1, off-season storms are very common, with over half of the 21st century seasons seeing a storm form in May.[41] Although the North Indian Ocean has no official start or end date, due to the monsoon, mid-May is the beginning of a month-long period of high activity in the basin. Even in the Western Pacific, activity tends to increase throughout May.
May 1992 was the record-breaking least active month ever recorded in the history of worldwide tropical cyclogenesis with only one tropical cyclone within the month – BOB 01 – the first cyclonic storm of the 1992 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Although Tropical Cyclone Innis was active in the month, it was counted for the month of April, as that was the month it formed in.
June was active, with ten tropical cyclones forming, while six were named. Tropical Storm Agatha in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed 10 people in southwestern Mexico. Typhoon Bobbie, alongside with Typhoon Chuck in the western Pacific Ocean caused heavy rains and mudslides on the northern Philippine islands, causing $27.2 million in damage
There are a total of nine tropical cyclone basins, seven are seasonal and two are non-seasonal, thus all eight basins except the Mediterranean are active. In this table, data from all these basins are added.
1 2 The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the Saffir Simpson Scale which uses 1-minute sustained winds.
1 2 3 4 Only systems that formed either before or on December 31, 1992 are counted in the seasonal totals.
↑ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the IMD Scale which uses 3-minute sustained winds.
1 2 3 Only systems that formed either on or after January 1, 1992 are counted in the seasonal totals.
↑ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone are based on Météo-France, which uses wind gusts.
↑ The sum of the number of systems in each basin will not equal the number shown as the total. This is because when systems move between basins, it creates a discrepancy in the actual number of systems.
↑ The number in the bracket indicates indirect deaths.
↑ Stremler, David J; Joint Typhoon Warning Center; Naval Western Oceanography Center (1993). Typhoon Axel (01W)(PDF) (1992 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report). United States Navy, United States Airforce. pp.36–41. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Celesta (1992039S14063). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warning Center. Tropical Cyclone Daman (Report). Australian: Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Davilia (1992048S18067). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Joint Typhoon Warning Center; Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center. "Tropical Cyclone 18P best track analysis". United States Navy, United States Air Force. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
↑ Darwin Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (1992). "February 1992"(PDF). Darwin Tropical Diagnostic Statement. 11 (3). Australian Bureau of Meteorology: 2–3. ISSN1321-4233. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Elizabeta:Elizabetha (1992054S14044). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Farida (1992055S11086). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Harriet:Harriet_Heat:Heather (1992056S11102). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Joint Typhoon Warning Center; Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center. Tropical Cyclone 21P (Esau) best track analysis (Report). United States Navy, United States Air Force. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Gerda (1992055S17053). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 H19192 (1992057S17052). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1992 Irna:Jane:Jane_Irna (1992096S05101). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
↑ Dorst, Neal (June 2, 2016). "TCFAQ G1) When is hurricane season?". Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
↑ "27 killed by heavy storm in western Burma". Bangkok, Thailand. Agence France-Presse. May 26, 1992.–viaLexis Nexis (subscription required)
↑ "Storm kills 27 persons in western Myanmar state". Yangon, Myanmar. Xinhua General News. May 27, 1992.–viaLexis Nexis (subscription required)
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