Hurricane Julia (2022)

Hurricane Julia
Hurricane Julia at peak intensity while making landfall in Nicaragua on October 9
Meteorological history
FormedOctober 7, 2022
DissipatedOctober 10, 2022
Category 1 hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds85 mph (140 km/h)
Lowest pressure982 mbar (hPa); 29.00 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities35 direct, 54 indirect (89 total)
Damage>$406 million (2022 USD)
Areas affectedTrinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, ABC islands, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico
IBTrACS / [1]

Part of the 2022 Atlantic
and Pacific hurricane seasons

Hurricane Julia was a deadly tropical cyclone that caused significant impacts in Central America as a Category 1 hurricane in October 2022. The tenth named storm and fifth hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, Julia formed from a tropical wave over the southern Caribbean Sea on October 7, just off the coast of South America. Only one storm on record, Tropical Storm Bret in 1993, has tracked further south over South America.[2]

On October 9, it became a hurricane and proceeded to make landfall in Nicaragua. It emerged into the Pacific Ocean as a tropical storm late that same day, becoming the eighteenth tropical storm of the 2022 Pacific hurricane season, and the second storm of the season to survive the crossover between the Atlantic–Pacific basin, after Bonnie in July. The storm then briefly moved along the coast of El Salvador, before moving inland and degenerating into an open trough over Guatemala on October 10.

Julia brought heavy rains to much of Central America, causing life-threatening flash floods and deadly mudslides, exacerbating an already devastating rainy season. Floods, storm surge and the total or partial collapse of houses forced the evacuation of thousands of people.[3] Its precursor disturbance triggered similar impacts in northern Venezuela. Altogether, Julia was responsible for 35 direct deaths, 54 indirect deaths,[1] and at least US $406 million in damage.

  1. ^ a b Cangialosi, John (March 2, 2023). Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Julia (PDF) (Report). Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  2. ^ Masters, Jeff; Henson, Bob (October 7, 2022). "Tropical Storm Julia forms in southern Caribbean". New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Climate Connections. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  3. ^ Northern Central America: TS Julia and Rainy Season Flash Update No. 01 (PDF) (Report). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. October 14, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2022.