The following is a list of documented weather events, sorted by year and by type. It includes tropical cyclones, tornadoes, windstorms, and snowstorms.
| Year | Tropical cyclones | Tornadoes [nb 1] | European windstorms | Snowstorms | Total | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | ||||||
| 1997 | 108 | 1,148 | 1 [1] | 2 | 1,259 | |
| 1998 | 125 | 1,424 | 3 [2] | 1 | 1,553 | |
| 1999 | 142 | 1,426 | 3 | 2 | 1,573 | [3] |
| 2000 | 140 | 1,075 | 1 [4] | 2 | 1,218 | [5] |
| 2001 | 128 | 1,215 | 1 | 0 | 1,334 | [6] |
| 2002 | 123 | 934 | 1 | 3 | 1,061 | [7] |
| 2003 | 129 | 1,374 | 0 | 2 | 1,505 | [8] |
| 2004 | 132 | 1,817 | 2 | 2 | 1,953 | [9] |
| 2005 | 141 | 1,265 | 2 [10] | 2 | 1,410 | [11] |
| 2006 | 134 [nb 2] | 1,103 | 2 | 5 | 1,244 | [12] |
| 2007 | 130 | 1,096 | 5 | 6 | 1,137 | [13] |
| 2008 | 124 | 1,692 | 2 | 4 | 1,822 | [14] |
| 2009 | 130 | 1,159 | 2 | 2 | 1,293 | [15] |
| 2010 | 111 | 1,282 | 2 | 7 | 1,402 | |
| 2011 | 131 | 1,703 | 7 | 8 | 1,849 | |
| 2012 | 128 | 929 | 1 | 4 | 1,062 | |
| 2013 | 139 | 903 | 7 | 9 | 1,058 | |
| 2014 | 117 | 928 | 16 | 12 | 1,073 | |
| 2015 | 134 | 1,178 | 11 | 10 | 1,333 | |
| 2016 | 140 | 976 | 8 | 12 | 1,136 | |
| 2017 | 146 | 1,428 | 9 [nb 3] | 9 | 1,592 | |
| 2018 | 151 | 1,123 | 20 [nb 4] | 13 | 1,307 | |
| 2019 | 150 | 1,520 | 18 [nb 5] | 8 | 1,696 | |
| 2020 | 141 | 1,050 | 21 | 13 | 1,225 | |
| 2021 | 145 [nb 6] | 1,280 | 16 [nb 7] | 17 | 1,358 | |
| 2022 | 132 | 1,133 | 47 [nb 8] | 18 | 1,424 | |
| 2023 | 10 | 123 | 3 | 2 | 138 | |
| Total [nb 9] | 3,460 [16] | 31,240 | 211 [nb 10] | 169 [nb 11] | 34,985 | [17] |
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around which, from an observer looking down toward the surface of the Earth, winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern. Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, and they are often visible in the form of a condensation funnel originating from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud, with a cloud of rotating debris and dust beneath it. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 180 kilometers per hour, are about 80 meters across, and travel several kilometers before dissipating. The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 480 kilometers per hour (300 mph), are more than 3 kilometers (2 mi) in diameter, and stay on the ground for more than 100 km (62 mi).
In meteorology, a cyclone is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above. Cyclones are characterized by inward-spiraling winds that rotate about a zone of low pressure. The largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extratropical cyclones of the largest scale. Warm-core cyclones such as tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones also lie within the synoptic scale. Mesocyclones, tornadoes, and dust devils lie within the smaller mesoscale. Upper level cyclones can exist without the presence of a surface low, and can pinch off from the base of the tropical upper tropospheric trough during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclones have also been seen on extraterrestrial planets, such as Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. Cyclogenesis is the process of cyclone formation and intensification. Extratropical cyclones begin as waves in large regions of enhanced mid-latitude temperature contrasts called baroclinic zones. These zones contract and form weather fronts as the cyclonic circulation closes and intensifies. Later in their life cycle, extratropical cyclones occlude as cold air masses undercut the warmer air and become cold core systems. A cyclone's track is guided over the course of its 2 to 6 day life cycle by the steering flow of the subtropical jet stream.
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning, heavy precipitation, heavy freezing rain, strong winds, wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere such as in a dust storm, among other forms of severe weather.
These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred around the globe.
The 1982 Atlantic hurricane season was an extremely inactive Atlantic hurricane season with five named tropical storms and one subtropical storm. Two storms became hurricanes, one of which reached major hurricane status. The season officially began on June 1, 1982, and lasted until November 30, 1982. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. Activity started early with Hurricane Alberto forming on the first day of the season. Alberto threatened the Southwestern Florida coast as a tropical storm, meadering offshore in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and causing 23 fatalities in Cuba. The next system, a subtropical storm, formed later in June and affected the same area as Alberto, causing $10 million in damage.
This is a list of meteorology topics. The terms relate to meteorology, the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting.
A mesoscale convective system (MCS) is a complex of thunderstorms that becomes organized on a scale larger than the individual thunderstorms but smaller than extratropical cyclones, and normally persists for several hours or more. A mesoscale convective system's overall cloud and precipitation pattern may be round or linear in shape, and include weather systems such as tropical cyclones, squall lines, lake-effect snow events, polar lows, and mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs), and generally forms near weather fronts. The type that forms during the warm season over land has been noted across North and South America, Europe, and Asia, with a maximum in activity noted during the late afternoon and evening hours.
The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically 30–65 kilometers in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds occur. The cyclone's lowest barometric pressure occurs in the eye and can be as much as 15 percent lower than the pressure outside the storm.
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to severe gales, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. These types of cyclones are defined as large scale (synoptic) low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth. In contrast with tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along broad lines, called weather fronts, about the center of the cyclone.
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High winds, hail, excessive precipitation, and wildfires are forms and effects of severe weather, as are thunderstorms, downbursts, tornadoes, waterspouts, tropical cyclones, and extratropical cyclones. Regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards (snowstorms), ice storms, and duststorms. Extreme weather phenomena that cause extreme heat, cold, wetness or drought often will bring severe weather events. One of the principal effects of anthropogenic climate change is changes in severe and extreme weather patterns.
Tropical Depression Ten was a short-lived tropical cyclone that made landfall on the Florida Panhandle in September 2007. The system developed as a subtropical depression on September 21 in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico from the interaction of a tropical wave, the tail end of a cold front, and an upper-level low. Initially containing a poorly defined circulation and intermittent thunderstorm activity, the system transitioned into a tropical depression after convection increased over the center. Tracking northwestward, the depression moved ashore near Fort Walton Beach early on September 22 and dissipated over southeastern Alabama shortly thereafter.
European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak intensity in the winter months. Deep areas of low pressure are common over the North Atlantic, and occasionally start as nor'easters off the New England coast. They frequently track across the North Atlantic Ocean towards the north of Scotland and into the Norwegian Sea, which generally minimizes the impact to inland areas; however, if the track is further south, it may cause adverse weather conditions across Central Europe, Northern Europe and especially Western Europe. The countries most commonly affected include the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
On June 18–19, 1972, Hurricane Agnes generated the third-deadliest tropical cyclone-related tornado outbreak in the United States since 1900, as well as the deadliest such tornado outbreak on record in Florida. The outbreak lasted about 38 hours and produced at least 19 confirmed tornadoes, though some studies suggested nearly a dozen more. Two of the tornadoes killed a total of seven people and were not classified as tornadoes by the National Weather Service until 2018. In Florida alone, the outbreak inflicted at least 135 injuries and destroyed 15 homes, while 119 homes received damage. Statewide, 217 trailers were destroyed and 196 trailers incurred damage. Additionally, six businesses were destroyed, while six others were damaged.
Throughout 2006, 133 tropical cyclones formed in seven bodies of water known as tropical cyclone basins. Of these, 80 have been named, including two tropical cyclones in the South Atlantic Ocean, and a tropical cyclone in the Mediterranean Sea, by various weather agencies when they attained maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h (40 mph). The strongest storms of the year were Typhoon Yagi in the Western Pacific, and Cyclone Glenda of the Australian region. The deadliest and costliest storms of the year were a series of five typhoons that struck the Philippines and China; Chanchu, Bilis, Saomai, Xangsane, and Durian, with most of the damage being caused by Durian of November. So far, 27 Category 3 tropical cyclones formed, including five Category 5 tropical cyclones in the year.
Storm Abigail was the first storm to be officially named (jointly) by the Met Office of the United Kingdom and Met Éireann of the Republic of Ireland, on 10 November 2015. It brought high winds, rain, lightning, and wintry showers across the north and northwest of Scotland.
The United Kingdom's Met Office, in collaboration with its Irish counterpart Met Éireann and, since 2019, its Dutch counterpart the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), decided to introduce a storm naming system following the St Jude's day storm on 27–28 October 2013 which caused 17 deaths in Europe and the 2013–14 Atlantic winter storms in Europe to give a single, authoritative naming system to prevent confusion with the media and public using different names for the same storms.
On October 3–4, 1964, Hurricane Hilda and its remnants generated a tornado outbreak over portions of the Southeastern United States. The outbreak, which yielded at least 12 confirmed tornadoes, killed 22 people and injured 175 others. Most of the casualties occurred as a result of a violent tornado that devastated the northern outskirts of Larose, Louisiana, becoming the deadliest hurricane-generated tornado on record since 1900. The tornado was also one of only two F4s known to have been produced by a tropical cyclone, the other having occurred during Hurricane Carla on September 12, 1961.
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