The 2022 Pacific hurricane season was a slightly above average hurricane season in the eastern North Pacific basin (east of 140°W), with nineteen named storms, ten hurricanes, and four major hurricanes. Two of the storms crossed into the basin from the Atlantic. In the central North Pacific basin (between 140°W and the International Date Line), no tropical cyclones formed (for the third consecutive season). The season officially began on May 15 in the eastern Pacific, and on June 1 in the central; both ended on November 30. These dates historically describe the period each year when most tropical cyclogenesis occurs in these regions of the Pacific and are adopted by convention.
The first named storm of the season, Hurricane Agatha, formed on May 28, and made landfall two days later at Category 2 strength on the Saffir–Simpson scale, making it the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall during the month of May in the Eastern Pacific basin. In June, Hurricane Blas and Tropical Storm Celia caused heavy rainfall over southwestern Mexico despite remaining offshore. The season's first major hurricane, Hurricane Bonnie, moved offshore Nicaragua as a tropical storm on July 2, becoming the first storm to survive the crossover from the Atlantic to the Pacific intact since Hurricane Otto in 2016. In September, tropical storms Javier, Lester, and Madeline all caused flooding across the Pacific coast of Mexico, though none left severe damage. Hurricane Kay also formed that month, and struck the Baja California Peninsula before bringing gale-force winds to the west coast of the continental United States, becoming the first Pacific hurricane to do so since Hurricane Nora 25 years earlier.
In early October, Hurricane Orlene became a Category 4 hurricane before weakening and making landfall in Sinaloa as a Category 1 hurricane, resulting in heavy rainfall and flooding. Also, Hurricane Julia became the second storm of the season to cross over from the Atlantic basin intact, and made landfall in El Salvador soon thereafter. In late October, Hurricane Roslyn became the fourth major hurricane of the season, and went on to become the strongest landfalling Pacific hurricane since Hurricane Patricia in 2015. __TOC__
Seasonal forecasts
Record Namedstorms Hurricanes Majorhurricanes Ref Average (1991–2020): 15 8 4 Record high activity: 1992: 27 2015: 16 2015: 11 Record low activity: 2010: 8 2010: 3 2003: 0 Date Source Namedstorms Hurricanes Majorhurricanes Ref May 17, 2022 SMN 14–19 6–9 2–4 May 24, 2022 NOAA 10–17 4–8 0–3 Area Namedstorms Hurricanes Majorhurricanes Ref Actual activity: EPAC 19 10 4 Actual activity: CPAC 0 0 0 Actual combined activity: 19 10 4 Forecasts include weekly and monthly changes in important factors that help determine the number of tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes within a particular year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average hurricane season in the Eastern and Central Pacific between 1991 and 2020 contained approximately 15 tropical storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes. The NOAA generally classifies a season as above average, average, or below average based on the cumulative ACE index, but occasionally the number of tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes within a hurricane season is also considered. Factors they expected to reduce activity were near- or below-average sea surface temperatures across the eastern Pacific and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation remaining in the neutral phase, with the possibility of a La Niña developing, corresponding to a low chance of an El Niño.
On May 17, 2022, the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN) issued its forecast for the season, predicting a total of 14–19 named storms, 6–9 hurricanes, and 2–4 major hurricanes to develop. On May 24, 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued their outlook, calling for a below-normal season with 10–17 named storms, 4–8 hurricanes, 0–3 major hurricanes, and an accumulated cyclone energy index of 45% to 100% of the median.
Seasonal summary
The season began with the formation and development of Hurricane Agatha on May 28, which rapidly intensified to a high-end Category 2 hurricane before making landfall along the coast of southwestern Mexico two days later. This marked the strongest Pacific hurricane to make landfall during the month of May since records began in 1949. Activity continued into June with the formation of Hurricane Blas, which caused four deaths while offshore of southwestern Mexico, and Tropical Storm Celia, which meandered across the basin for twelve days in late June. Four days after Celia dissipated, Tropical Storm Bonnie became the first to survive the crossover from the Atlantic to the Pacific since Hurricane Otto in 2016. It also became the season's first major hurricane. The same day Bonnie dissipated, the depression that would become Hurricane Darby formed. The storm rapidly intensified into the strongest storm of the season late on July 11, attaining sustained winds of while moving out to sea. Several days later, Hurricane Estelle formed and paralleled the coast of Mexico. After a brief period without any active tropical cyclones, Hurricane Frank and Tropical Storm Georgette formed later in the month. They were followed by two systems during the first half of August, Hurricane Howard and Tropical Storm Ivette.
September was the peak month for tropical cyclogenesis in 2022, with six systems developing. Tropical Storm Javier and then Hurricane Kay both formed off the coast of southwestern Mexico during the first week of the month and paralleled the coast offshore. Kay, the longer-lived and stronger of the two, became the first tropical cyclone to extend its effects northward into Southern California since Nora in 1997. This pace of storm development continued with the mid-month formations of tropical storms Lester and Madeline, which caused flooding and a combined 8 fatalities in Mexico, after Lester made landfall there and Madeline passed closely offshore. Madeline's dissipation was closely followed by the formation of Tropical Storm Newton and then Hurricane Orlene to close out the month. A Category 4 hurricane, Orlene became the most intense storm of the season, attaining a minimum pressure of , before ultimately making landfall in southern Sinaloa at Category 1 strength.
October began with Tropical Storm Paine, a weak and short-lived system that remained away from land. Shortly thereafter, Hurricane Julia became the second storm of the season to cross over into the Pacific basin intact from the Atlantic. Not since 1996 has more than one storm crossed between the Atlantic and Pacific basins intact during a single season. Later in the month, Hurricane Roslyn paralleled the coast of Western Mexico before making landfall in Nayarit with winds. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the eastern Pacific since Hurricane Patricia in 2015, which struck about south of where Roslyn did. No named storms formed in the month of November for the first time since 2017.
The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2022 Pacific hurricane season, as calculated by Colorado State University using data from the NHC, was 116.5 units, the highest since 2018. This level of activity was near the long-term (1991–2020) average.
Systems Hurricane Agatha
Beginning on May 17, convection began to increase with the Intertropical Convergence Zone stretching from the southwestern Caribbean Sea into the East Pacific basin. An area of low pressure soon developed and further organized into the season's first tropical depression to the south-southwest of the Mexico coastline early on May 28. Within hours, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Agatha. The newly-formed storm moved erratically during its early stages but eventually curved to the northeast. A very favorable environment allowed the system to begin a prolonged period of rapid intensification on May 29; it became the season's first hurricane during the early morning hours and reached its peak intensity at Category 2 strength with winds of by the afternoon. An increase in westerly wind shear and the onset of an eyewall replacement cycle temporarily caused the hurricane to weaken. However, it regained some strength on approach to the coastline of Mexico, and it moved onshore near La Redonda with winds around 21:00 UTC on May 30. The system's center decayed over land and dissipated on June 1 as it became absorbed in developing Tropical Storm Alex to the northeast.
Storm surge near where Agatha's core made landfall caused beach erosion and some additional damage. Torrential rainfall across Oaxaca, peaking at in Santa María Tonameca, triggered landslides and flash flooding in many parts of the state. Strong winds caused additional damage to infrastructure. Agatha killed nine people, all in the Sierra Madre del Sur, and six others remained missing.
Hurricane Blas
An area of disturbed weather formed within the monsoon trough a couple of hundred miles offshore the coast of southern Mexico on June 10. The system slowly organized while it moved west, developing into Tropical Storm Blas at 06:00 UTC on June 14. Weak steering currents directed the system to curve north-northeast before sending it back westward. Blas tracked within an environment of warm sea surface temperatures and low to moderate wind shear, allowing it to rapidly become a hurricane on June 15 and reach peak winds of that afternoon as it displayed a well-defined inner core structure. Increasing shear caused the hurricane to fluctuate in intensity through June 17, until cold waters led to a sustained weakening phase. At 18:00 UTC on June 19, Blas degenerated to a remnant low to the southwest of the Baja California peninsula. It continued west until dissipating on June 23.
Moisture from Blas combined with a nearby tropical wave interacted with the mountainous terrain of southwestern Mexico, resulting in heavy rainfall along the coast despite the hurricane remaining well offshore. A peak accumulation of was measured in Laguna de Coyuca. This rain led to river flooding, flash flooding, and landslides, particularly across the states of Michoacán and Guerrero. A couple of dozen vehicles were stranded in flooded neighborhoods near Acapulco, where a sinkhole was reported on the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo Bypass. The bodies of two individuals were discovered near the city, but their cause of death is unknown, as is any possible relation with the hurricane. A few trees, fences, and utility poles were downed by gusty winds. Along the coast, large waves and rough surf resulted in minor beach erosion. Overall damage, though, was relatively minimal.
Tropical Storm Celia
A tropical wave departed Africa on June 5 and entered the East Pacific a week later, where it interacted with the active monsoon trough and the favorable phase of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). Persistent thunderstorms spawned a broad area of low pressure, and both the low and associated convection organized over subsequent days. On June 16, the disturbance developed into a tropical depression; the next day, it intensified into Tropical Storm Celia. The new system moved unusually in its initial stages as it interacted with a cyclonic gyre established nearby, conducting a counter-clockwise curve before moving more definitively toward the west-northwest. Celia's intensity fluctuated for many days as it lost and regained convection in a moderate wind shear environment. On June 24, the cyclone reached peak winds of in spite of a sprawling, disorganized core structure. Celia soon entered colder waters and drier air, causing it to degenerate to a remnant low on June 28 after an unusually long stint as an early season tropical cyclone. The low finally dissipated well west of the Baja California peninsula on June 30.