Most Intense

Typhoon Tip (NW Pacific, October, 1979) – low pressure of 870 millibars with winds of 306 kilometres per hour (165 knots).

5 Most Intense Atlantic

  1. Hurricane Gilbert (1988)
    • low pressure of 888 millibars, high winds of 299 kilometres per hour
  2. Hurricane Mitch (1998)
    • low pressure of 905 millibars, high winds of 287 kilometres per hour
  3. Hurricane Hugo (1989)
    • low pressure of 918 millibars, high winds of 260 kilometres per hour
  4. Hurricane Andrew (1992)
    • low pressure of 922 millibars, high winds of 250 kilometres per hour
  5. Hurricane Camille (1969)
    • low pressure of 964 millibars, high winds (estimate) of 320 kilometres per hour

Fastest Intensification

Typhoon Forrest – deepened 100 millibars (976 to 876) in under 24 hours. In one day winds increased from 120 kilometres per hour (65 knots) to 277 kilometres per hour (150 knots).

Highest Storm Surge

Bathurst Bay Hurricane (Australia, 1899). It was 13 metres (42 feet)!

Largest Rainfalls

(all at the La Reunion Island)

  • 12 hours – 1144 millimetres – Tropical Cyclone Denise, January 1966
  • 24 hours – 1825 millimetres – Tropical Cyclone Denise, January 1966
  • 48 hours – 2467 millimetres – unnamed, April, 1958
  • 72 hours – 3240 millimetres – Tropical Cyclone Hyacinthe, January 1980
  • 10 days – 5678 millimetres – Tropical Cyclone Hyacinthe, January 1980

Largest

Typhoon Tip (NW Pacific, October, 1979) gale radius 1100 km

Longest Lasting

Hurricane/Typhoon John (August-September, 1994) lasted 31 days.

Longest Lasting (Atlantic)

Hurricane Ginger (1971) lasted 28 days.

Deadliest

Bangladesh Cyclone of 1970. It killed 300,000 people.

10 Deadliest Atlantic

  • 22,000 deaths: October, 1780 – Barbados, Martinique, St. Eustatius
  • 12,000 deaths: September, 1900 – Galveston, Texas
  • 10,000 deaths: October 1998 – Honduras, Nicaragua (Hurricane Mitch)
  • 8,000 – 10,000 deaths: September 1974 – Honduras (Hurricane Fifi)
  • 8,000 deaths: September, 1930 – Santo Domingo
  • 8,000 deaths: September – October, 1963 – Haiti (Hurricane Flora)
  • 4,000 deaths: September, 1775 – South of Newfoundland
  • 3,370 deaths: September, 1928 – Lake Okeechobee, P.R., Guadaloupe
  • 3,369 deaths: August, 1899 – Puerto Rico
  • 3,000 deaths: June, 1934 – El Salvador, Honduras

Costliest Hurricane

Hurricane Andrew (1992). The damage was estimated at $25 billion (adjusted to 1990 dollars).

Canadian Tropical Cyclone Statistics

Average number of tropical cyclones affecting Canada each year:

  • Last 110 year average (1886-1995) 3.4
  • Last 50 year average (1946-1995) 4.0
  • Last 10 Year Average (1986-1995) 3.2

The most number of tropical cyclones that have affected Canada in one year since 1886:

  • 8 in 1969
  • 7 in 1984,1953,1943,1893,1891
  • 6 in 1995,1981,1961,1958,1955,1950,1948,1937,1932,1889

Since 1886, has there ever been a season with no tropical cyclones affecting Canada (entering the response zone)?

  • Yes, but not since 1931. On average, 8% of the years have no cyclones that affect Canada.

Average percentage of all Atlantic tropical cyclones that affect Canada:

  • Last 110 Year Average (1886-1995): 40%
  • Last 50 Year Average (1946-1995): 41%
  • Last 10 Year Average (1986-1995): 33%

Year with the highest percentage of storms affecting Canada (counting only seasons that have had at least 9 storms or more):

  • 1943, when 7 out of 10 Tropical Storms/hurricanes entered the response zone.

Year with the lowest percentage of storms affecting Canada (counting only seasons that have had at least 9 storms or more):

  • 1909, when none of the 10 Tropical Storms/hurricanes entered the response zone.

Has an intense hurricane (categories 3-5) ever made landfall in Canada?

  • Yes, in 1995, Hurricane Luis, a category 3 storm, made landfall on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. Prior to that, a hurricane in 1893 made landfall in St. Margaret?s Bay in Nova Scotia.

Most Active Years of Landfalling Tropical Cyclones in Canada:

Year and Number

  • 1893 – 6
  • 1996 – 5
  • 1995 – 4
  • 1937 – 4
  • 1923 – 4
  • 1891 – 4
  • 1888 – 4
  • 1988 – 3
  • 1979 – 3
  • 1954 – 3

Most common date for a landfalling hurricane in Canada:

  • September 15th.

Top Ten Tropical Cyclones in Canada by Province:

  • Wind is in knots. To convert to kilometres per hour, multiply by 1.853.
  • Ratings are based on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
  • TS=Tropical Storm; Td’Tropical Depression; SS1=Saffir-Simpson Category 1 Hurricane; SS2=Saffir-Simpson Category 2 Hurricane etc..
  • A dash (-) under pressure means that it was not measured.

 


PEI
Year Name Pressure Wind Rating Month Day
1963 Ginny – 80 SS1 10 30
1924 1924B – 80 SS1 8 27
1891 1891I – 75 SS1 10 15
1937 1937G – 70 SS1 9 27
1996 Bertha 995 50 TS 7 14
1959 unnamed – 50 TS 6 20
1991 Josephine 985 45 TS 10 10
1889 1889I – 40 TS 9 5
1918 1918D – 40 TS 9 7

Ontario
Year Name Pressure Wind Rating Month Day
1954 Hazel – 60 TS 10 16