October 2022 Southern Ocean cyclone
The October 2022 Southern Ocean cyclone, also referred to as the Peter I storm or EC2022 was the most intense extratropical cyclone on record. Forming as a weak depression near Tonga late on 9 October, the extratropical cyclone tracked slowly southeastward across the South Pacific, remaining weak. Starting on 14 October, the cyclone began rapid deepening as it moved towards Antarctica. Deepening rates peaked on 16 October, where the pressure fell as rapidly as 19 mbar (0.56 inHg) over a six-hour period. The storm peaked early on 17 October in the Bellingshausen Sea, with a minimum pressure of around 900 mbar (26.58 inHg). The cyclone moved slowly in a loop, rising in pressure over the next few days before dissipating on 20 October.
The cyclone on 16 October, soon before record peak intensity | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 9 October 2022 (ECMWF) 16 October 2022 (Geophysical Research Letters paper) |
| Dissipated | 20 October 2022 (ECMWF) 22 October 2022 (Geophysical Research Letters paper) |
| Extratropical cyclone | |
| Lowest pressure | ≤900.7 hPa (mbar); ≤26.60 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | None |
| Damage | None |
The cyclone's pressure has been estimated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) as 900.7 mbar (26.60 inHg) at 06:00 UTC on 17 October. An analysis paper published in Geophysical Research Letters in July 2023 got a minimum pressure of 899.91 mbar (26.574 inHg) at 03:00 UTC the same day. These pressures would make the extratropical cyclone the most intense since at least the start of the satellite era; for comparison, the most intense extratropical cyclone known over the North Atlantic was the Braer Storm in 1993, with a pressure of 914 mbar (27.0 inHg).