Weather In 2023

The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2023. The year saw a transition from La Niña to El Niño, with record high global average surface temperatures. The several weather events which had a significant impact were blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones.

Deadliest events

Types

The following listed different types of special weather conditions worldwide.

Cold snaps and winter storms

In January, a cold snap in Afghanistan killed at least 166 people and more than 80,000 livestock. A national low temperature was set in Mohe City, China at , on January 23. Two days later, snow fell in Algeria for the first time in ten years.

Heat waves and droughts

Starting in April 2023, a record-breaking heat wave in Asia has affected multiple countries, including India, China, Laos and Thailand.

Tornadoes

An early-season tornado outbreak in the Southern United States was responsible for eight deaths and 53 injuries. On January 24, an EF3 tornado struck Deer Park, Texas, causing a tornado emergency. A storm complex in late February caused several tornadoes including a tornado that hit Cheyenne, Oklahoma, that killed one. A rare tornado near Taif, Saudi Arabia killed one person and injured one more. Two separate tornado outbreaks between March 24–March 27 and March 31–April 1 caused 58 deaths and two EF4 tornadoes in the US.

Tropical and subtropical cyclones

The first named tropical cyclone of the year was Cyclone Hale, which caused minimal damage and one death in New Zealand as an extratropical cyclone. Later in January, Cyclone Cheneso killed at least 33 people in Madagascar and left 20 missing. In addition, it damaged over 13,000 houses and 18 medical centers.
In February, Cyclone Freddy formed on February 5 and lasted until March 14, making it the longest lived tropical cyclone on record, surpassing Hurricane John of 1994, tracking across the entire Indian Ocean, the first to do so since Hudah and Leon-Eline in 2000. In addition, Freddy also recorded the highest accumulated cyclone energy of any tropical cyclone worldwide, at 87.01, surpassing the previous record of 85.26 by Hurricane Ioke in 2006. Freddy killed at least 1,434 people, and left 19 missing. In May, Cyclone Mocha formed and made landfall in Myanmar, killing 438 people and more than 101 missing. In June, Cyclone Biparjoy formed over the Arabian Sea and intensified into an extremely severe tropical cyclone, and made landfall in India, leaving at least 12 people dead.

Extratropical cyclones and European windstorms

Cyclone Helios which formed in early February brought recorded rain and humidity to Malta from 80 years. Luqa recorded rain with a total of 140.4 millimeters. meteo.it defined it as a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone as it dissipated on February 11. Storm Otto, also known as Storm Ulf, brought high winds to the United Kingdom, Norway, and Germany. The highest wind gust was recorded in Cairngorms, UK, at 193 km/h (120 mph).

Wildfires

Over 100 wildfires have been confirmed in Alberta, Canada, and 13,000 people have been evacuated. The 2023 Hawaii wildfires killed over 110 people in the town on Lahaina, Hawaii.

Timeline

This is a timeline of weather events during 2023.

January

In January 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documented 30 weather-related fatalities and 162 weather-related injuries in the United States and Territories of the United States.

*November 2022–January 2023 – The rainy season in Malawi resulted in 42 fatalities from various severe weather incidents.
*December 26–January 25 — 2022–2023 California floods: A series of atmospheric rivers impacts California, killing 22 people and causing at least 200,000 power outages in the state.
*January 1 – A weather station in Abed, Denmark, measured the hottest temperature ever nationwide in the month of January, measuring , breaking the previous record of from January 10, 2005.
*December 18, 2022 – February 5, 2023 — A shear line system caused flooding and landslides across the Philippines, killing 97 people with 25 more missing.
*January 4 — Heavy rains caused a house to collapse in Matala, Angola, with two people being killed.
*January 4–5 — Flooding and landslides in Buvaku, Democratic Republic of the Congo kills five people.
*January 6–8 — Flooding and landslides in Indonesia kills five people.
*January 10 — Flooding and landslides in Minas Gerais, Brazil kill six people.
*January 10–17 — A cold snap in Afghanistan kills at least 166 people and more than 80,000 livestock. The coldest temperature recorded was in the province of Ghor.
*January 12 — An early season tornado outbreak causes at least nine deaths in the Southern United States and several tornado emergencies.
*January 12 — A lightning strike in HaOgen, Israel kills a person walking their dog.
*January 13–16 — Heavy rains in Tijuana, Mexico, cause extreme flooding and a mudslide which killed two people.
*January 14 — A flash flood in Medellín, Colombia killed two people and injured 25 others.
*January 15 — Fatehpur, Rajasthan records a temperature of from a cold wave.
*January 16 – Two EF1 tornadoes touch down in Iowa, the first tornadoes in the state in January since 1967.
*January 16 — A landslide in Locroja District, Peru kills three people and leaves three others injured.
*January 17 — An avalanche strikes Nyingchi, Tibet, killing 28.
*January 18–19 — Flooding and landslides in Brazil kill 3 and leave 2 missing.
*January 20 — Cyclone Cheneso leaves 33 dead and 20 missing in Madagascar.
*January 27–February 6 — Heavy amounts of rain struck Auckland and the upper North Island in New Zealand causing massive flooding resulting in 4 deaths and 3 injuries
*January 31 – Denmark had its wettest January on record, with a measurement of through the month, which beat the in January 2007 that previously held the record.
*January 31–February 2 — An ice storm kills 10 people and causes 500,000 power outages across the Southern United States.

February

*February 1 – of snow falls in New York City, becoming the latest date for first measurable snow there. Despite the minimal snow, a ground stop was still issued at LaGuardia Airport.
*February 2 – Avalanche has buried a tourist near Mały Kościelec in Tatra Mountains, Poland. After a few days the men died.
*February 3–4 – A cold wave briefly hit New England and Canada. The wind chill on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, drops to , marking the coldest wind chill ever recorded in the United States. The next day, the temperature of in Boston became the coldest day in the city since 1957.
*February 5–7 – In the Mariano Nicolás Valcárcel District, 15 died from landslides that occurred after heavy rains.
*February 5 – March 13 – Cyclone Freddy forms in the eastern Indian Ocean and makes landfall in Madagascar and Mozambique, becoming only the fourth storm to cross the entire Indian Ocean. Additionally, it was the longest lasting tropical cyclone on record with a duration of 5 weeks and 2 days, and holds the record for the highest accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of any tropical cyclone of 87.01. 238 people die in Madagascar and Mozambique and over 1,200 people were killed in Malawi from extreme flooding and mudslides.
*February 10 – Widespread record highs were broken across the Eastern United States, ranging from in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, to in portions of North Carolina.
*February 11–15 – Cyclone Gabrielle struck New Zealand particularly in the Gisborne and Hawkes Bay areas leaving 11 people dead while +3 are currently missing. Making it the most destructive cyclone in New Zealand since 1988.
*February 16 – Record warm temperatures occur in the Eastern United States. Islip, New York, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bedford, Massachusetts, and Newport, Rhode Island, all set record highs for the month of February. The record in Newport was broken by 6 °F (4 °C). At LaGuardia Airport, the low of tied for the warmest low on record, while Central Park observed a low of , the second warmest February low on record.
*February 18–23 – Floods and mudslides kill at least 65 people across the state of São Paulo in Brazil.
*February 21–28 – A major storm complex caused almost a million power outages throughout the United States, with Michigan being the most affected, with an ice storm that left at least one dead in Michigan when a power line fell on a volunteer firefighter.

March

*March 1–3 – A storm complex containing both severe thunderstorms and heavy snowfall killed at least 13 people across the United States, including five in Kentucky, three in Alabama, two in Tennessee, one in Arkansas, and one in Mississippi.
*March 6 – A landslide in Natuna Regency, Indonesia kills at least 50 people and four others remain missing.
*March 7–20 – At least eight people were killed by Cyclone Yaku in Peru and Ecuador.
*March 9–10 – Two people were killed and 9,400 were under evacuation orders as continuing atmospheric rivers brought heavy rains and flooding to parts of California.
*March 15 – 16 deaths were reported as massive flash floods struck the Turkish provinces of Adiyaman and Sanliurfa, turning streets into rivers. These areas had been particularly hit hard by the past earthquakes.
*March 21–22 – 5 died in California from high winds by a bomb cyclone that also caused two tornadoes, including one in Montebello.
*March 22–25 – 14 died in the town Baardhere, Jubaland state, Somalia, when flash floods hit the area.
*March 24–26 – 26 people were killed in a tornado outbreak in the Southern United States.
*March 26 – 11 were killed and 67 were left missing by a landslide caused by heavy rains that occurred in Alausí, Ecuador.
*March 31–April 1 – At least 26 people are killed in a tornado outbreak in the United States.

April

* April 3 – Casper, Wyoming, saw its snowiest day on record, with of snow falling.
* April 5 – An EF2 tornado hits the town of Glen Allen, Missouri, killing five people.
*April 12–13 – Heavy rains affected Fort Lauderdale and South Florida, causing significant flooding.
*April 14 – A temperature of at Windsor Locks, Connecticut, tied the state record for warmest April temperature. Additionally, a temperature of in Worcester, Massachusetts, became the earliest date for a ninety degree day.
*April 19 – Tornadoes struck throughout the U.S. central plains, including a fatal EF3 tornado in Cole, Oklahoma. The outbreak lead to 3 fatalities.
*April 21 – A significant tornado struck the Aung Myin Kone and Tadau villages near Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw, killing at least 8 people and injuring at least 128. At least 232 homes were also destroyed by the tornado.
*April 22 - Gusty and strong winds in Pennsylvania lead to falling trees that killed 2 people.
*April 27 — The hottest April temperature in Europe occurred, with the temperature in Córdoba, Spain at .
*April 29 — A microburst in Texas caused “tens of millions of dollars” in damage.

May

*May 3 – present — Floods in East Africa, especially in the DRC and Rwanda killed 440 and 129 respectively.
*May 9 – Flooding caused a state of emergency in Auckland. 1 person was swept away by floodwaters in the Abbey Caves.
*May 14–15 — Cyclone Mocha impacted Myanmar and Bangladesh, killing 438 people in total.
*May 15 – Lightning kills one person and injured another in Texas.
*May 16 – While in Cyclone Fabien, the ''Lu Peng Yuan Yu'' fishing vessel capsizes in the Indian Ocean. 16 of the 39 people on board have been confirmed dead.
*May 16 – 17 — 17 people died and ten of thousands were left homeless in devastating floods in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
*May 18 –- Many daily record lows were set across the Northeastern United States, including Trenton, New Jersey, at , Montpelier, Vermont, at , Lebanon, New Hampshire, at , Bridgeport, Connecticut, at , Providence, Rhode Island, at , and Akron, Ohio, at . A temperature of became the coldest temperature so late in the year in Saranac Lake, New York, while Allentown, Pennsylvania, recorded their third latest freeze on record. This cold snap lead to several damaging frosts and freezes in Upstate New York.
*May 19 – June 3 – Typhoon Mawar kills two people in Guam, one person in the Philippines, one person in Taiwan and two people in Japan.
*May 23 – Two people were killed in a storm in Texas.
*May 28 – A tourist boat sinks on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing four.
*May 29 – Shanghai records its hottest ever May temperature, at .
*May 29 – Wildfires in Nova Scotia cause 16,000 to evacuate.
*May 30 – A landslide in the southwestern Sichuan province, China, kills 19.

June

*June 1–2 – Record heat affects portions of the Northeastern United States, with Burlington, Vermont, seeing a high of , the warmest temperature so early in the season there. The next day, daily records were set in Hartford and Philadelphia.
*June 1 - Temperatures in Lapland, Finland reached , the coldest June temperature in the country.
*June 2–4 – Floods in Haiti cause 51 deaths and injure 140 people. Additionally, over 13,500 homes were flooded and 820 were destroyed.
*June 6–19 – Cyclone Biparjoy becomes the longest-lived cyclone in the Arabian Sea and kills 12 people in Gujarat.
*June 8–9 – Windstorms and floods in Iran kill seven and leave 59 injured.
*June 10 – Heavy rains in northeast Pakistan kills 25 and leaves 145 injured.
*June 14–19 – A widespread tornado outbreak sequence leaves five dead and 120 injured
**A low-end EF3 tornado damages or destroys nearly 200 homes in Perryton, Texas.
**In Jasper County, Mississippi, over a dozen buildings were destroyed and one person was killed by an EF3 tornado.
*June 17–18 – Floods and landslides in Nepal kill at least six and leave 28 missing.
*June 20 – Two Texas cities broke all-time record high temperatures, with San Angelo reaching and Del Rio reaching . Air conditioning pushed ERCOT power demand to a record 81.2 GW.
*June 20–26 – A second widespread tornado outbreak sequence across the United States leaves over 100 injured and eight dead.
**An EF3 tornado in Matador, Texas, kills four people and destroys over ten buildings.
**An EF2 tornado in Martin and Dubois County, Indiana, leaves one dead and another person injured.
**At George Bush Intercontinental Airport, a record gust of was observed, surpassing the airport's previous highest gust of during Hurricane Ike.
*June 22 – July 6 – Monsoon rains in Pakistan kill 55 people, including at least eight children.
**June 25 – Ten people are killed from lightning strikes in Punjab province, Pakistan.
*June 27 – Flash flood induced landslides in the Miansi and Weizhou townships in Sichuan province, China, result in four deaths and three missing people.
*June 29 – Authorities in Mexico have said that within the past two weeks, over 100 people have died from heat related deaths as temperatures have came close to .
*June 30 – Heavy rain and a tornado in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa leaves at least seven people dead another seven missing.

July

*July 1–7 – The World Meteorological Organization find that the first week of July was the hottest week recorded during an El Niño which was worsened by climate change. The record was broken twice and equaled once in that week.
:
*July 3–present – Monsoon rains cause record-breaking and destructive floods in North India, killing over 100.
**July 9 – The capital of India, New Delhi, receives its wettest July day in over 40 years, receiving of rain.
**July 19 – A landslide in Raigad kills at least 16 people with another 100 feared dead under debris.
*July 9–16 – Flash flooding in the Northeastern United States kills at least eight people and leaves two children missing.
*July 10 – Torrential rain in southern Japan cause landslides that kill three people.
*July 13–18 – Tropical Storm Talim leaves three dead across the Philippines and Southern China.
*July 16 - Monsoon flooding in South Korea kill at least 41 people and 9 missing.
*July 17 – Torrential rains cause a landslide in Quetame, Colombia leaves 14 dead.
*July 18 – Phoenix recorded their warmest ever low temperature on record, at .
*July 19 – A severe storm sweeps through the western Balkans, killing five people.
*July 19–29 – Typhoon Doksuri causes at least 87 deaths and over $2 billion in damages.
**July 27 – The ''MB Aya Express'' capsizes in the Philippines, killing 27.
**July 27–29 – Record-breaking floods in China result in 30 deaths and $2 billion in damages.
*July 22 – Another severe storms hits Serbia killing three.
*July 24- Lightning in Upstate New York kills one person.
*July 25 – A nighttime storm in Lombardy, Italy leaves four dead.
*July 27 – August 11 – Typhoon Khanun kills at least two people in Okinawa.
*July 30 – In Mari El, Russia, severe storms leave ten dead at a campsite.

August

*August 3–23 – Floods in Carinthia and Slovenia kill seven people.
*August 3 – 32 people are killed and one is left missing after a landslide in Shovi, Georgia.
*August 4-8 - Severe storms, mainly in the Eastern United States kill two people and result in over a million power outages.
*August 11 – Floods in Myanmar kills five.
*August 12 – A landslide in Xi'an, China, kills 21 people and leaves six missing.
*August 12 – Four people are killed by lightning strikes in separate incidents in Yemen.
*August 16–22 – Hurricane Hilary kills two people in Mexico and becomes the first tropical cyclone to bring tropical storm force winds to California since 1997. Additionally, four states in the United States break tropical cyclone rainfall records.
*August 20 – September 1 – Hurricane Franklin kills two people and leaves one missing in the Dominican Republic.
*August 22 – September 3 – Typhoon Saola kills one person in the Philippines.
*August 24–31 – Hurricane Idalia kills nine people in the Eastern United States after landfall in Florida.
*August 27 – September 6 – Typhoon Haikui leaves two dead in Taiwan and China.
*August 28–30 – Heavy rains in Tajikistan kills 21 people.
*August 28 – Severe wind gusts strikes a thermal spa in Podhájska, Slovakia, injuring one person. Wooden booths at the spa were obliterated and swept away, trees were uprooted, and a camper was overturned. Tomas Pucik, a meteorologist and forecaster with the European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) conducted a scientific study on the wind gusts. The study rated the damage caused IF1.5 on the International Fujita scale, with winds estimated between .

September

In September 2023, 20% of the earth's surface experienced new record high temperatures, the highest percentage of any month since the start of records in 1951. (change "202309" in URL to see years other than 2023, and months other than 09=September)
*September 2 - Flooding in the Southwestern United States kills one person at the Burning Man festival.
*September 6 – A cyclone in Rio Grande do Sul causes floods that kill 21 people.
*September 7–8 – The remnants of Typhoon Haikui combined with a low pressure trough cause widespread flooding in Hong Kong, killing four and injuring nearly 150.
*September 4–11 – Storm Daniel causes catastrophic flooding across Libya and Southeast Europe, killing near 7,000 people and leaving 10,000 missing. Additionally, flooding in Greece is responsible for $2.14 billion in damages.
*September 11 - September 2023 northeastern U.S. floods - The city of Leominster, Massachusetts, declares a state of emergency after rain up to brought unprecidented flash flooding.
*September 19 – Three tornadoes, one rated as an EF3 tornado, hits Jiangsu in China. 10 people were killed.
*September 21–22 – Flooding hits New Zealand South Island causing a state of emergency in Queenstown and Southland with Queenstown recording its wettest day in 24 years and Wanaka recording its wettest day in 17 years.
*September 25 – Floods in Mexico and Guatemala kill 13 people and leave 22 missing.
*September 24–25 — Floods in the Western Cape province of South Africa kill at least 11 and leave over 80,000 without electricity.
*September 28–30 - New York City declares a state of emergency during major flooding in the city.

October

The month of October was the warmest October ever recorded.
*October 4 – Monthly record highs were set in Burlington, Vermont, and Syracuse, New York, with temperatures of and .
*October 4–5 – Heavy rains in Sikkim causes the South Lhonak Lake to outburst, killing at least 74 people in Sikkim and West Bengal.
*October 6 – Six people are killed from rain-induced mudslides in Sri Lanka.
*October 8 – Landslides in Yaoundé, Cameroon leaves 27 dead and left 50 injured.
*October 8 – Bush fires in Darling Downs, Australia kills two people.
*October 17–23 – Hurricane Norma kills three people in Sinaloa, Mexico.
*October 19–27 – Cyclone Lola becomes the earliest Category 5 cyclone in the South Pacific region and kills two in Vanuatu.
*October 22–25 – Hurricane Otis makes a devastating landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, as a Category 5, the strongest ever Pacific hurricane at landfall. At least 50 people are killed, with some estimates going up to 350, and $16 billion in damages are done.
*October 28 – November 6 – Tropical Storm Pilar leaves two dead in El Salvador.

November

*November 19 – Flooding in the Dominican Republic kills 21 people.
*November 20 – Flooding in Turkey and Bulgaria kills nine people and leaves eleven crew members on the ''Kafkametler'' missing.
* November 24-28 - A winter storm in the United States kills 4.
*November 27 – A snowstorm in Ukraine and Moldova kills eight people and injures another 29.

December

*December 2–18 – Cyclone Jasper becomes the wettest tropical cyclone in Australian history, with of rain falling in Northern Queensland.
*December 3 – Flooding and landslides in Tanzania kills 47 people and injures another 85.
*December 5 – An atmospheric river in the Pacific Northwest kills one person.
*December 9-10 - A tornado outbreak kills 6 people in Tennessee.
*December 14 – Over 500 people are injured in a subway collision in Beijing, partially due to slippery tracks in a winter storm.
*December 16 – A severe thunderstorm in Bahía Blanca, Argentina kills 13 people.
*December 18 – A storm in the Northeastern United States kills four people and causes over 600,000 power outages.
*December 26 – 22 people are killed in floods in the Kasaï-Central provence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
*December 27 – Thunderstorms in Eastern Australia kills 10 people.
*December 29 – 20 people are killed in landslides in the South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
*December 30 - Flash flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, kills 21.
*December 31 - Tropical Storm Alvaro forms west of Madagascar, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the island, then persisting into 2024.

Space weather

*January 9 – An X1.9-class solar flare causes a widespread radio blackout across South and Central America. The sunspot that caused the solar flare also caused an X1.2-class solar flare on January 5.
*December 14 – An X2.8-class solar flare, the largest since September 2017 and second largest of Solar Cycle 25 causes an R2 radio blackout across South and Central America.
*December 31 – An X5.0-class solar flare, the largest of Solar Cycle 25, causes an R3 radio blackout over the Pacific.

Events in meteorology

*January 9 – Perseverance provides the first ever detailed weather report on Mars.

See also

* Weather of 2022
* Weather of 2021

Notes

References

{{Deadliest meteorological events in 2023

Weather by year
Weather-related lists
2023-related lists
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2023 meteorology