As the year began, a
tropical low was over Australia,[4] and
Cyclone Ula was moving toward
Tonga.[5] Ula was followed by another 16 tropical cyclones,[6][7] including
Cyclone Winston, which was the
most intense tropical cyclone in the
Southern Hemisphere on record, with 10 minute
sustained winds of 280 km/h (175 mph), and a minimum
pressure of 884 mbar (26.1 inHg). At peak intensity, Winston made landfall on
Fiji, the strongest ever to hit the country, and one of the strongest landfalls worldwide on record.[8][9] Damage in Fiji totaled FJ$2.98 billion (US$1.4 billion), and 44 people were killed.[10][11] In the Australian basin, there were 16 tropical cyclones, which made it the least-active season on record.[6][7][12][13] Activity in the south-west Indian Ocean was also below average, with just tropical cyclones. Among these were
Cyclone Fantala in April, which reached 10 minute sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph) while near the
Seychelles, making it the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the basin.[14][15]
The first northern hemisphere tropical cyclone was
Hurricane Pali, a
rare off-season hurricane which formed on January 7 southwest of
Hawaii.[16] There were an additional 22 tropical cyclones in the north-east Pacific Ocean during the year, including
Hurricane Otto, which
crossed from the Caribbean Sea in November, killing 23 people in
Central America.[17] Otto was the last of 16 tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. The first,
Alex, was a
rare January hurricane which hit the
Azores.[18] The strongest Atlantic hurricane of the year was
Matthew, which attained 1 minute sustained winds of 165 mph (270 km/h) in the Caribbean. Matthew killed 603 people and left at least US$15 billion in damage after its path through
Haiti,
Cuba,
The Bahamas, and offshore the southeastern United States.[19][20] In August,
Hurricane Earl killed 81 people in southeast
Mexico after it struck
Belize.[21]
In the north Indian Ocean, there were ten tropical cyclones.[17] Among these were
Cyclone Roanu in May, which killed 135 people in
Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh, causing over US$2 billion in damage.[22][23][24][25] In contrast to the unusually early start to activity in the north-east Pacific and the Atlantic, the first tropical cyclone in the north-west Pacific did not develop until May 25, when a tropical depression formed. It was the first of 51 tropical cyclones during the year. The strongest of the year was
Typhoon Meranti, which reached 10 minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph) while moving through the
Batanes in the
Philippines. Meranti later struck China, and along its path it killed 47 people, with US$4.79 billion in damage.[26][27][28][29] In July,
Typhoon Nepartak killed 111 people and left US$1.89 billion in damage when it struck
Taiwan and southeastern China.[30][31][32] In August,
Typhoon Lionrock became the first storm on record to strike the
Tōhoku region of Japan, with 22 deaths in the country and 525 deaths from flooding in
North Korea.[33][34]
Timeline
This is a timeline of weather events during
2016. Please note that entries might cross between months, however, all entries are listed by the month they started.
January
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
January 12-17 -
Hurricane Alex kills one person, and becomes the first Hurricane in January in the Atlantic since
1938.[35]
January 21-29 - A
historical blizzard, the most recent to be rated a category 5 on the
Regional Snowfall Index scale, causes 55 deaths and between $500 million and $3 billion in damage.
February
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
A
tornado outbreak consisting of 61 tornadoes, the second largest on record for February, caused 7 deaths and $1.2 billion.
March
This section is empty. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
April
This section is empty. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
May
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
May 1 –
2016 Fort McMurray wildfire: a wildfire erupts after record high temperatures in April in northern Alberta, forcing the evacuation of the entire city of
Fort McMurray in
Alberta. It is the largest mass evacuation in Canadian history. The wildfire destroys more than 3000 buildings, burns nearly 600,000 hectares of land, and causes nearly
$10 billion in damages. The wildfire is the costliest natural disaster in Canadians history.[36]
May 7-10 - A
tornado outbreak of 57 tornadoes caused 2 deaths, 19 injuries and $1 billion in damage.
May 22-26 - A
tornado outbreak sequence spawns 98 tornadoes, which caused 11 injuries and $1.3 billion in damage.
June
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
June 23 - The
Jiangsu tornado in
China caused 98 deaths and 846 injuries,[37] amounting to $760 million in damage.[38] The tornado was rated EF4. Another unrated tornado caused an additional fatality.
July
This section is empty. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
August
This section is empty. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
September
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
September 9 -
Philadelphia, for the first time in history, has a low above 80 °F (27 °C) in September. The high that day also set a record at 96 °F (36 °C).[39]
November 27-30 - A
tornado outbreak that unleashes 48 tornadoes caused 6 deaths and 55 injuries. It also caused at least $3.7 million in damage according to
NOAA, and $275 million according to
Aon.
December
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (August 2022)
December 13 - A man in
Florida was struck and killed by lightning. This was the first person to die due to lightning in December since 1998.[40]