Hurricane Fiona

Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 2022

Hurricane Fiona
Fiona near peak intensity southwest of Bermuda on September 22
Meteorological history
FormedSeptember 14, 2022
ExtratropicalSeptember 23, 2022
DissipatedSeptember 27, 2022
Category 4 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds140 mph (220 km/h)
Lowest pressure931 mbar (hPa); 27.49 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities29
Damage≥$3.09 billion (2022 USD)
(Costliest tropical cyclone in Canadian history)
Areas affectedLeeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Lucayan Archipelago, Bermuda, Atlantic Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Greenland
IBTrACSEdit this at Wikidata / [1][2]

Part of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Fiona was a large, powerful, and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane which was the costliest and most intense tropical or post-tropical cyclone to hit Canada on record. It was the sixth named storm, third hurricane and first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

Fiona developed from a tropical wave that emerged from West Africa, before developing into a tropical depression east of the Leeward Islands on September 14. Though under the influence of moderate to strong wind shear, the system was able to strengthen, becoming Tropical Storm Fiona later that same day. On September 16, Fiona passed over Guadeloupe and entered the Caribbean Sea, where atmospheric conditions improved, and strengthened into a hurricane as it approached Puerto Rico two days later. A few hours afterward, the eye of Fiona made landfall along the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico, near Punta Tocon, between the municipalities of Lajas and Cabo Rojo. The hurricane made landfall in the Dominican Republic shortly thereafter, and then strengthened into the first major hurricane of the season. As the storm slowly moved through the Turks and Caicos, it continued to strengthen and reached Category 4 status the following day, while accelerating north. The storm reached peak 1-minute sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 931 mbar (27.49 inHg). After passing Bermuda and weakening to Category 3 intensity, Fiona quickly transitioned into a large and powerful extratropical cyclone and struck Nova Scotia with sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h) early on September 24. Post-tropical Fiona then quickly weakened as it moved through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and over the southeastern Labrador Peninsula. The remnants then dissipated over the Labrador Sea near the southwest coast of Greenland on September 27.

Guadeloupe received near-record rainfall, leaving 40% of the population without water for a few days. Puerto Rico suffered from the worst flooding since Hurricane Maria of 2017, and an island-wide blackout occurred. A third of the territory's population was left without water, and at least 25 people died. In the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos, the islands were pounded by heavy rainfall and strong winds, causing flooding and blackouts. Fiona was the strongest cyclone on record to make landfall in Canada based on atmospheric pressure[3] and was one of the wettest ever recorded in the country as well.

Meteorological history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
circle Tropical cyclone
square Subtropical cyclone
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression