2022 Hurricane Season Final Thoughts
“Hurricane season brings a humbling reminder that, despite our technologies, most of nature remains unpredictable.”
~ Diane Ackerman
Hurricanes have affected Florida for as long as humans can remember. Unfortunately, Florida’s topography makes the state very vulnerable to direct hits when it comes to tropical activity. The 2022 Hurricane season was no different, but despite how the season ended, it started on a quiet note.
Let’s begin with June, when Tropical Storm Alex came to Florida. Tropical Storm Alex affected parts of Southwest Florida, only bringing some breezy and rainy conditions. Alex did not last very long or leave many problems for Florida.
In July, Tropical Storms Bonnie and Colin formed, but they did not have any significant impacts on Florida.
August was a special month. This hurricane season was the first season since 1997 that there were no named tropical disturbances formed (2022 Atlantic hurricane season, 2023). By the time August had come around, there had only been three named storms.
Some people, including myself, may have thought that perhaps this hurricane season was not going to be nearly as busy as the hurricane pre-season forecasts originally thought. On that note, I will say there are several Meteorological agencies, services, and hurricane experts that put out pre-season predictions indicating how many named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes there may be throughout the season. Instead of boring you with a lot of numbers, I’ll just say that the earliest predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) back in May of 2022 ranged from 14-21 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes, and 3-6 major hurricanes (2022 Atlantic hurricane season, 2023). But, by the time August came around, there had only been three named storms and zero hurricanes with only three months left in the season. It was difficult to believe that the 2022 hurricane season was going to live up to its expectations.
History shows that September 10th is considered the peak of hurricane season where 40% of all tropical disturbances occur during this month, including some of the strongest storms (Mulcahy, 2022). And history would be correct!
The start of September kicked off with the first official hurricane named Danielle, which remained a category one and pretty much stayed away from the United States- and mostly out at sea- until it eventually made landfall over in Europe, causing a bit of trouble (2022 Atlantic hurricane season, 2023). After Danielle, things really began to kick off with tropical disturbances popping up weekly and many turning into named storms. I won’t go into much detail about every storm in September because most of the storms just did not have an effect here in Southwest Florida, EXCEPT for one, and I think we all know which one that is.
Hurricane Ian officially made landfall near Cayo Costa in Southwest Florida at 3:05 PM EDT on September 28th as a high-end category 4 hurricane. This is the strongest hurricane to impact Southwest Florida since Charley in 2004 with sustained winds of up to 150 mph (Hurricane Ian’s Path of Destruction, 2022).
Ian caused mass destruction across the Florida peninsula, with impacts felt well outside of the cone of uncertainty. Sadly, at least 146 people lost their lives in Florida, with another 11 deaths outside of the state (Hurricane Ian, 2023). Damages within the United States were estimated to be around 111.8 billion dollars, according to NOAA (Hurricane Ian, 2023).
Approximately 2.4 million people or more had lost power in Florida during the storm and after. The greatest damages, and unfortunately deaths, had occurred in Lee County (Hurricane Ian, 2023).
Sarasota County suffered from extensive wind damage, along with significant flooding, especially inland. The Myakka River reached record flood levels of around 12.55 feet, causing a 12-mile stretch of I-75 to be shut down as flood waters spread across the interstate (Hurricane Ian, 2023). Right around landfall, Venice specifically saw peak wind speeds of around 82 mph, with Sarasota-Bradenton seeing wind speeds of around 77 mph (10 Tampa Bay, 2022).
After Ian, there had been a short break in tropical activity going into October. October only had a total of three named storms that did not have much of an impact on the Florida peninsula.
Finally, November, the final month of the hurricane season, had arrived, and it was quite the ending to say the least. We had three total hurricanes, all reaching the category 1 range during this month, with the memorable one being Hurricane Nicole.
Hurricane Nicole became a category 1 as it made landfall on the East coast of Florida, near Vero Beach (Gabriel, 2022). Most of the Northern East coast of Florida was still recovering from Hurricane Ian just weeks before, which did not help the situation as Nicole approached. Daytona Beach Shores suffered the worst damage from Nicole, with oceanside homes, backyards, condos and businesses heavily affected by the angry Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, a lot of oceanside infrastructure was not up to current day standards, which deemed most structures unsafe and forced many people to evacuate (Frisaro, 2022). Sadly, 11 people lost their lives due to Nicole, with damage assessments up to 1 billion dollars or more (2022 Atlantic hurricane season, 2023).

Figure 2: Severe Beach Erosion from Hurricane Nicole in Daytona Beach (Credit: FOX Weather)
Luckily, once Nicole made landfall, it immediately got downgraded to a tropical storm and then, eventually, a tropical depression as it made its way towards the West Coast of Florida. Sarasota County and points South of Tampa Bay only suffered from breezy and rainy conditions. Of course, most areas were still recovering from Ian, and people were not looking forward to ANY kind of rainy or windy conditions throughout the recovery process.
With that, the 2022 hurricane season quickly came to an end. In total, there ended up being 14 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes (2022 Atlantic hurricane season, 2023). This came pretty close to the initial predictions for this past season.
It is without a doubt that Hurricane Ian will be studied for many years to come. Meteorologists, including myself, have a lot of work to do in order to make sure the general public has a solid understanding of the risks of storms to this magnitude and protecting life and property. Preventing loss of life will always be the number one priority for meteorologists, emergency managers, and local government agencies leading up to, and during, any major weather event. It is certain that storms are becoming stronger and occurring on a more frequent basis as time goes on.
At the end of the day, every storm is different and brings a learning experience. I personally learned so much during the weeks of Ian and Nicole. What were your thoughts on the 2022 hurricane season?
Works Cited
2022 Atlantic hurricane season. (2023, January 16). From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022_Atlantic_hurricane_season&oldid=1134001643
Bay, 1. T. (2022, September 28). These are the peak wind speeds for some Florida Cities as Ian made landfall. From 10 Tampa Bay:
https://www.wtsp.com/article/weather/hurricane/hurricane-ian-florida-peak-wind-speeds/67-951e 7fbc-f14a-44f9-a000-3ce00be72cc8
Frisaro, T. S. (2022, November 10). Tropical Storm Nicole makes landfall in Florida, sprawling across most of state. From PBS News Hour:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/tropical-storm-nicole-makes-landfall-in-florida-sprawling-a cross-most-of-state#:~:text=Nicole%20made%20landfall%20near%20Vero,50%20kilometers)%2 0southeast%20of%20Orlando
Gabriel, E. S. (2022, November 10). Nicole’s dangerous storm surge washes away homes, roads, boardwaks along Florida coast. From FOX Weather:
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/nicole-causes-widespread-destruction-along-florida-c oast
Hurricane Ian. (2023, January 16). From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hurricane_Ian&oldid=1134063508
Hurricane Ian’s Path of Destruction. (2022, October 4). From National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NOAA):
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/hurricane-ians-path-of-destruction#:~:text=Ian%20came%20a shore%20near%20Cayo,Florida%20since%20Michael%20in%202018
Mulcahy, C. (2022, September 7). What month has the most hurricanes? From WCNC: https://www.wcnc.com/article/weather/what-month-has-the-most-hurricanes/275-6d6c130e-22f6- 4197-bd83-8c85c72163d8