Hurricane Fiona was a strong tropical cyclone that devastated the U.S. Fiona was the 6th named storm, 3rd hurricane, and 2nd major hurricane of the 2022 hurricane season. Hurricane Fiona made landfall on August 23, 2022 and caused $10.9 billion USD in damage and also killed 34 people.
Meteorological History[]
On August 8, 2022, a tropical wave exited the Sub-Saharan coast of Africa. 8 days later, the area of low pressure developed into Tropical Depression Six. 2 days later, Six developed into Tropical Storm Fiona. Fiona was a consistently growing tropical cyclone and on August 20, Fiona became the 3rd hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season. On August 21, Fiona went through rapid intensification and went from a category 1 hurricane to a major category 3 storm in 24 hours as it rushed towards the U.S. On August 22, Fiona slowed down its forward speed from 22 mph to 4 mph. The next day, Hurricane Fiona reached peak intensity at around 12:00 UTC with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and a central pressure of 956 mbar. On August 24, Fiona made landfall near Long Island, New York and pass over Massachusetts as a category 2 which was previously hit by Danielle two weeks prior. After causing destruction in Massachusetts Fiona weakened to a Category 1 but restrengthened mainly because of the low wind shear. Hurricane Fiona picked up speed and made a direct landfall of Nova Scotia on August 26. On August 29, 2022, Fiona dissipated over Greenland.
Retirement[]
On April 18, 2023, the WMO removed Fiona from its naming lists and replaced it with Fauna for the 2028 Atlantic Hurricane Season.