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Abstract
We present an analysis of time-series measurements from a prototype fluorescence-quenching dissolved oxygen sensor moored for a six-day period in late March 1987 at 100 m depth in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Temporal variations in dissolved oxygen are shown to be consistent with concomitant variations in water properties obtained from a moored Aanderra RCM4 current meter and daily vertical profiles. Results suggest that fluorescence-based instrumentation have sufficient resolution and stability for a variety of mooring and profiling applications involving the measurement of dissolved oxygen concentration.
Abstract
We present an analysis of time-series measurements from a prototype fluorescence-quenching dissolved oxygen sensor moored for a six-day period in late March 1987 at 100 m depth in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Temporal variations in dissolved oxygen are shown to be consistent with concomitant variations in water properties obtained from a moored Aanderra RCM4 current meter and daily vertical profiles. Results suggest that fluorescence-based instrumentation have sufficient resolution and stability for a variety of mooring and profiling applications involving the measurement of dissolved oxygen concentration.
Abstract
The authors describe a two-dimensional (vector) regressional model for examining the anisotropic response of ice drift and ocean current velocity (“drift velocity”) to surface wind forcing. Illustration of the method is limited to sea ice response. The principal mathematical and physical properties of the model are outlined, together with estimates of the “response matrices” and the corresponding “response ellipses” (drift velocity response to a unity wind velocity forcing). For each direction, ϕ, of the wind vector the method describes a corresponding “wind factor” α(ϕ) (relative drift speed) and “turning angle” θ(ϕ) (the angle between the drift velocity and wind vector). The major ellipse axis corresponds to the direction of the “effective wind” (ϕ = ϕ max) and the minor axis to the direction of the “noneffective” wind. The eigenvectors of the response matrix define wind directions that are the same as the wind-induced drift velocity directions. Depending on the water depth and offshore distance, six analytical cases are possible, ranging from rectilinear response ellipses near the coast to purely circular response ellipses in the open ocean. The model is used to examine ice drift along the western shelf of Sakhalin Island (Sea of Okhotsk). Responses derived from the vector regression (four parameter) method are less constrained and therefore more representative of wind-induced surface motions than those derived using the traditional complex transfer function (two parameter) approach.
Abstract
The authors describe a two-dimensional (vector) regressional model for examining the anisotropic response of ice drift and ocean current velocity (“drift velocity”) to surface wind forcing. Illustration of the method is limited to sea ice response. The principal mathematical and physical properties of the model are outlined, together with estimates of the “response matrices” and the corresponding “response ellipses” (drift velocity response to a unity wind velocity forcing). For each direction, ϕ, of the wind vector the method describes a corresponding “wind factor” α(ϕ) (relative drift speed) and “turning angle” θ(ϕ) (the angle between the drift velocity and wind vector). The major ellipse axis corresponds to the direction of the “effective wind” (ϕ = ϕ max) and the minor axis to the direction of the “noneffective” wind. The eigenvectors of the response matrix define wind directions that are the same as the wind-induced drift velocity directions. Depending on the water depth and offshore distance, six analytical cases are possible, ranging from rectilinear response ellipses near the coast to purely circular response ellipses in the open ocean. The model is used to examine ice drift along the western shelf of Sakhalin Island (Sea of Okhotsk). Responses derived from the vector regression (four parameter) method are less constrained and therefore more representative of wind-induced surface motions than those derived using the traditional complex transfer function (two parameter) approach.
Abstract
From 12 to 16 October 2016, a series of three major low pressure systems, including the tail end of Typhoon Songda, crossed the coasts of British Columbia (BC) and the state of Washington (WA). Songda was generated on 2 October and, after traveling northward along the coast of Japan, turned eastward toward North America. Once there, it merged with two extratropical cyclones moving along the coast of Vancouver Island. The combined lows generated pronounced storm surges, seiches, and infragravity waves off southern BC and northern WA. Here, we examine the event in terms of sea levels measured by tide gauges and offshore bottom pressure recorders, together with reanalysis data, and high-resolution air pressure and wind measurements from 182 meteorological stations. Surge heights during the event typically exceeded 80 cm, with maximum heights of over 100 cm observed at La Push (WA) and New Westminster (BC). At Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, there was a sharp 40-cm increase in sea level on 14 October in response to a marked air pressure disturbance; slightly lower sea level peaks were also observed at other outer coast locations. In all cases, the sea level response was 1.5–2.5 times as great as that expected from the inverted barometer effect, consistent with local topographic amplification. The sea level oscillations at Tofino had the form of a forced solitary wave (“meteorological tsunami,” or meteotsunami), whereas those on the southwestern shelf off Vancouver Island are well described by classical standing-wave theory. A numerical model closely reproduces the observed meteotsunami peaks and standing-wave oscillations.
Abstract
From 12 to 16 October 2016, a series of three major low pressure systems, including the tail end of Typhoon Songda, crossed the coasts of British Columbia (BC) and the state of Washington (WA). Songda was generated on 2 October and, after traveling northward along the coast of Japan, turned eastward toward North America. Once there, it merged with two extratropical cyclones moving along the coast of Vancouver Island. The combined lows generated pronounced storm surges, seiches, and infragravity waves off southern BC and northern WA. Here, we examine the event in terms of sea levels measured by tide gauges and offshore bottom pressure recorders, together with reanalysis data, and high-resolution air pressure and wind measurements from 182 meteorological stations. Surge heights during the event typically exceeded 80 cm, with maximum heights of over 100 cm observed at La Push (WA) and New Westminster (BC). At Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, there was a sharp 40-cm increase in sea level on 14 October in response to a marked air pressure disturbance; slightly lower sea level peaks were also observed at other outer coast locations. In all cases, the sea level response was 1.5–2.5 times as great as that expected from the inverted barometer effect, consistent with local topographic amplification. The sea level oscillations at Tofino had the form of a forced solitary wave (“meteorological tsunami,” or meteotsunami), whereas those on the southwestern shelf off Vancouver Island are well described by classical standing-wave theory. A numerical model closely reproduces the observed meteotsunami peaks and standing-wave oscillations.
Abstract
Ice-drift velocity records from coastal radar stations, combined with data from moored current meters and coastal wind stations, are used to examine sea-ice motion off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. Ice motion is shown to be governed primarily by diurnal tidal currents and wind-induced drift, which explain 92%–95% of the total ice-drift variance. Diurnal tidal motions predominate off the northern Sakhalin coast, accounting for 65%–80% of the variance, while low-frequency wind-induced motions prevail off the south-central coast, accounting for over 91% of the ice-drift variance. Maximum diurnal tidal ice-drift velocities range from 90–110 cm s−1 on the north coast to 10–15 cm s−1 on the south coast, in good agreement with the barotropic model of Kowalik and Polyakov. The presence of diurnal shelf waves accounts for the strong diurnal currents on the steeply sloping northern Sakhalin shelf, while the absence of such waves explains the weak diurnal currents on the more gently sloping south-central shelf. Using a vector regression model, the authors show that wind-induced ice-drift “response ellipses” (the current velocity response to a unity wind-velocity forcing) are consistent with a predominantly alongshore response to the wind, with wind-induced currents most pronounced off the south-central coast where water depths are relatively shallow. Time–frequency analysis of wind and ice-drift series reveals that, in winter, when sea ice is most extensive and internally cohesive, the ice response is almost entirely aligned with the alongshore component of the wind; in spring, when sea ice is broken and patchy, the ice responds to both the cross- and alongshore components of the wind.
Abstract
Ice-drift velocity records from coastal radar stations, combined with data from moored current meters and coastal wind stations, are used to examine sea-ice motion off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. Ice motion is shown to be governed primarily by diurnal tidal currents and wind-induced drift, which explain 92%–95% of the total ice-drift variance. Diurnal tidal motions predominate off the northern Sakhalin coast, accounting for 65%–80% of the variance, while low-frequency wind-induced motions prevail off the south-central coast, accounting for over 91% of the ice-drift variance. Maximum diurnal tidal ice-drift velocities range from 90–110 cm s−1 on the north coast to 10–15 cm s−1 on the south coast, in good agreement with the barotropic model of Kowalik and Polyakov. The presence of diurnal shelf waves accounts for the strong diurnal currents on the steeply sloping northern Sakhalin shelf, while the absence of such waves explains the weak diurnal currents on the more gently sloping south-central shelf. Using a vector regression model, the authors show that wind-induced ice-drift “response ellipses” (the current velocity response to a unity wind-velocity forcing) are consistent with a predominantly alongshore response to the wind, with wind-induced currents most pronounced off the south-central coast where water depths are relatively shallow. Time–frequency analysis of wind and ice-drift series reveals that, in winter, when sea ice is most extensive and internally cohesive, the ice response is almost entirely aligned with the alongshore component of the wind; in spring, when sea ice is broken and patchy, the ice responds to both the cross- and alongshore components of the wind.
Abstract
The characteristics of a series of cloud-delineated wake patterns downwind of isolated mountain barriers on the Alaskan Peninsula and eastern Aleutian Islands have been studied using a geometrically corrected NOAA satellite picture in conjunction with available meteorological information. Four of these wakes are shown to be atmospheric analogs of Kármán-type vortex streets observed in laboratory experiments. A critical Reynolds number of 92±5 has been estimated for the flow. The drag coefficients associated with the vortex streets varied from 1.1 for an irregular, asymmetrical wake to 2.3 for a regular, symmetrical wake; the turbulent eddy viscosity ranged from 1.2−1.8×103 m2 s−1 for the four vortex streets. The two vortex streets having the lowest Reynolds number flows (R= 97, 112) appear to have developed through a “double vortex street” laminar instability while the vortex street having the largest Reynolds number flow (R = 183) apparently developed through a “single vortex street” instability. Formation of the remaining vortex street (R= 120) appeared to result from a downstream growth of a mountain-induced instability in the wind field.
Abstract
The characteristics of a series of cloud-delineated wake patterns downwind of isolated mountain barriers on the Alaskan Peninsula and eastern Aleutian Islands have been studied using a geometrically corrected NOAA satellite picture in conjunction with available meteorological information. Four of these wakes are shown to be atmospheric analogs of Kármán-type vortex streets observed in laboratory experiments. A critical Reynolds number of 92±5 has been estimated for the flow. The drag coefficients associated with the vortex streets varied from 1.1 for an irregular, asymmetrical wake to 2.3 for a regular, symmetrical wake; the turbulent eddy viscosity ranged from 1.2−1.8×103 m2 s−1 for the four vortex streets. The two vortex streets having the lowest Reynolds number flows (R= 97, 112) appear to have developed through a “double vortex street” laminar instability while the vortex street having the largest Reynolds number flow (R = 183) apparently developed through a “single vortex street” instability. Formation of the remaining vortex street (R= 120) appeared to result from a downstream growth of a mountain-induced instability in the wind field.
Abstract
The effects of reduced sampling schedules (duty cycles) on velocity statistics derived from satellite-tracked drifters in the northeast Pacific Ocean are investigated. Continuous segments of the drifter records (in which all available satellite positions fixes are recorded and processed by Service ARGOS) are degraded to match the standard duty cycle used in the World Ocean Circulation Experiment–Surface Velocity Program, in which there are 48 h of no data transmission followed by 24 h of received transmission (48–24 h). Also examined are duty cycles of 32–16 h and 16–8 h. It is found that the strong inertial motions prevalent in the drifter records result in significantly biased statistics derived from the degraded series. Reproduction of the original prime (mean and standard deviation) and rotary spectral statistics requires an interpolation that takes into account the oscillatory component of the drifter motions. Duty cycles having shorter but more frequent gaps (e.g., 16–8 h) are not sufficient to resolve the main features of the flow. The authors recommend that interpolations over duty cycle segments of drifter records be customized to account for the dominant modes of variability observed in available continuous segments.
Abstract
The effects of reduced sampling schedules (duty cycles) on velocity statistics derived from satellite-tracked drifters in the northeast Pacific Ocean are investigated. Continuous segments of the drifter records (in which all available satellite positions fixes are recorded and processed by Service ARGOS) are degraded to match the standard duty cycle used in the World Ocean Circulation Experiment–Surface Velocity Program, in which there are 48 h of no data transmission followed by 24 h of received transmission (48–24 h). Also examined are duty cycles of 32–16 h and 16–8 h. It is found that the strong inertial motions prevalent in the drifter records result in significantly biased statistics derived from the degraded series. Reproduction of the original prime (mean and standard deviation) and rotary spectral statistics requires an interpolation that takes into account the oscillatory component of the drifter motions. Duty cycles having shorter but more frequent gaps (e.g., 16–8 h) are not sufficient to resolve the main features of the flow. The authors recommend that interpolations over duty cycle segments of drifter records be customized to account for the dominant modes of variability observed in available continuous segments.
Abstract
The California Undercurrent (CUC), a poleward-flowing feature over the continental slope, is a key transport pathway along the west coast of North America and an important component of regional upwelling dynamics. This study examines the poleward undercurrent and alongshore pressure gradients in the northern California Current System (CCS), where local wind stress forcing is relatively weak. The dynamics of the undercurrent are compared in the primitive equation Navy Coastal Ocean Model and a linear coastal trapped wave model. Both models are validated using hydrographic data and current-meter observations in the core of the undercurrent in the northern CCS. In the linear model, variability in the predominantly equatorward wind stress along the U.S. West Coast produces episodic reversals to poleward flow over the northern CCS slope during summer. However, reproducing the persistence of the undercurrent during late summer requires additional incoming energy from sea level variability applied south of the region of the strongest wind forcing. The relative importance of the barotropic and baroclinic components of the modeled alongshore pressure gradient changes with latitude. In contrast to the southern and central portions of the CCS, the baroclinic component of the alongshore pressure gradient provides the primary poleward force at CUC depths over the northern CCS slope. At time scales from weeks to months, the alongshore pressure gradient force is primarily balanced by the Coriolis force associated with onshore flow.
Abstract
The California Undercurrent (CUC), a poleward-flowing feature over the continental slope, is a key transport pathway along the west coast of North America and an important component of regional upwelling dynamics. This study examines the poleward undercurrent and alongshore pressure gradients in the northern California Current System (CCS), where local wind stress forcing is relatively weak. The dynamics of the undercurrent are compared in the primitive equation Navy Coastal Ocean Model and a linear coastal trapped wave model. Both models are validated using hydrographic data and current-meter observations in the core of the undercurrent in the northern CCS. In the linear model, variability in the predominantly equatorward wind stress along the U.S. West Coast produces episodic reversals to poleward flow over the northern CCS slope during summer. However, reproducing the persistence of the undercurrent during late summer requires additional incoming energy from sea level variability applied south of the region of the strongest wind forcing. The relative importance of the barotropic and baroclinic components of the modeled alongshore pressure gradient changes with latitude. In contrast to the southern and central portions of the CCS, the baroclinic component of the alongshore pressure gradient provides the primary poleward force at CUC depths over the northern CCS slope. At time scales from weeks to months, the alongshore pressure gradient force is primarily balanced by the Coriolis force associated with onshore flow.
Abstract
—J. Blunden and T. Boyer
In 2023, La Niña conditions that generally prevailed in the eastern Pacific Ocean from mid-2020 into early 2023 gave way to a strong El Niño by October. Atmospheric concentrations of Earth’s major greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—all increased to record-high levels. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere rose to 419.3±0.1 ppm, which is 50% greater than the pre-industrial level. The growth from 2022 to 2023 was 2.8 ppm, the fourth highest in the record since the 1960s.
The combined short-term effects of El Niño and the long-term effects of increasing levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere contributed to new records for many essential climate variables reported here. The annual global temperature across land and oceans was the highest in records dating as far back as 1850, with the last seven months (June–December) having each been record warm. Over land, the globally averaged temperature was also record high. Dozens of countries reported record or near-record warmth for the year, including China and continental Europe as a whole (warmest on record), India and Russia (second warmest), and Canada (third warmest). Intense and widespread heatwaves were reported around the world. In Vietnam, an all-time national maximum temperature record of 44.2°C was observed at Tuong Duong on 7 May, surpassing the previous record of 43.4°C at Huong Khe on 20 April 2019. In Brazil, the air temperature reached 44.8°C in Araçuaí in Minas Gerais on 20 November, potentially a new national record and 12.8°C above normal.
The effect of rising temperatures was apparent in the cryosphere, where snow cover extent by June 2023 was the smallest in the 56-year record for North America and seventh smallest for the Northern Hemisphere overall. Heatwaves contributed to the greatest average mass balance loss for Alpine glaciers around the world since the start of the record in 1970. Due to rapid volume loss beginning in 2021, St. Anna Glacier in Switzerland and Ice Worm Glacier in the United States disappeared completely. In August, as a direct result of glacial thinning over the past 20 years, a glacial lake on a tributary of the Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska burst through its ice dam and caused unprecedented flooding on Mendenhall River near Juneau.
Across the Arctic, the annual surface air temperature was the fourth highest in the 124-year record, and summer (July–September) was record warm. Smaller-than-normal snow cover extent in May and June contributed to the third-highest average peak tundra greenness in the 24-year record. In September, Arctic minimum sea ice extent was the fifth smallest in the 45-year satellite record. The 17 lowest September extents have all occurred in the last 17 years.
In Antarctica, temperatures for much of the year were up to 6°C above average over the Weddell Sea and along coastal Dronning Maud Land. The Antarctic Peninsula also experienced well-above-average temperatures during the 2022/23 melt season, which contributed to its fourth consecutive summer of above-average surface melt. On 21 February, Antarctic sea ice extent and sea ice area both reached all-time lows, surpassing records set just a year earlier. Over the course of the year, new daily record-low sea ice extents were set on 278 days. In some instances, these daily records were set by a large margin, for example, the extent on 6 July was 1.8 million km2 lower than the previous record low for that day.
Across the global oceans, the annual sea surface temperature was the highest in the 170-year record, far surpassing the previous record of 2016 by 0.13°C. Daily and monthly records were set from March onward, including an historic-high daily global mean sea surface temperature of 18.99°C recorded on 22 August. Approximately 94% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave in 2023, while 27% experienced at least one cold spell. Globally averaged ocean heat content from the surface to 2000-m depth was record high in 2023, increasing at a rate equivalent to ∼0.7 Watts per square meter of energy applied over Earth’s surface. Global mean sea level was also record high for the 12th consecutive year, reaching 101.4 mm above the 1993 average when satellite measurements began, an increase of 8.1±1.5 mm over 2022 and the third highest year-over-year increase in the record.
A total of 82 named tropical storms were observed during the Northern and Southern Hemispheres’ storm seasons, below the 1991–2020 average of 87. Hurricane Otis became the strongest landfalling hurricane on record for the west coast of Mexico at 140 kt (72 m s−1), causing at least 52 fatalities and $12–16 billion U.S. dollars in damage. Freddy became the world’s longest-lived tropical cyclones on record, developing into a tropical cyclone on 6 February and finally dissipating on 12 March. Freddy crossed the full width of the Indian Ocean and made one landfall in Madagascar and two in Mozambique. In the Mediterranean Sea—outside of traditional tropical cyclone basins—heavy rains and flooding from Storm Daniel killed more than 4300 people and left more than 8000 missing in Libya.
The record-warm temperatures in 2023 created conditions that helped intensify the hydrological cycle. Measurements of total-column water vapor in the atmosphere were the highest on record, while the fraction of cloud area in the sky was the lowest since records began in 1980. The annual global mean precipitation total over land surfaces for 2023 was among the lowest since 1979, but global one-day maximum totals were close to average, indicating an increase in rainfall intensity.
In July, record-high areas of land across the globe (7.9%) experienced extreme drought, breaking the previous record of 6.2% in July 2022. Overall, 29.7% of land experienced moderate or worse categories of drought during the year, also a record. Mexico reported its driest (and hottest) year since the start of its record in 1950. In alignment with hot and prolonged dry conditions, Canada experienced its worst national wildfire season on record. Approximately 15 million hectares burned across the country, which was more than double the previous record from 1989. Smoke from the fires were transported far into the United States and even to western European countries. August to October 2023 was the driest three-month period in Australia in the 104-year record. Millions of hectares of bushfires burned for weeks in the Northern Territory. In South America, extreme drought developed in the latter half of the year through the Amazon basin. By the end of October, the Rio Negro at Manaus, a major tributary of the Amazon River, fell to its lowest water level since records began in 1902.
The transition from La Niña to El Niño helped bring relief to the prolonged drought conditions in equatorial eastern Africa. However, El Niño along with positive Indian Ocean dipole conditions also contributed to excessive rainfall that resulted in devastating floods over southeastern Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya during October to December that displaced around 1.5 million people. On 5 September, the town of Zagora, Greece, broke a national record for highest daily rainfall (754 mm in 21 hours, after which the station ceased reporting) due to Storm Daniel; this one-day accumulation was close to Zagora’s normal annual total.
Abstract
—J. Blunden and T. Boyer
In 2023, La Niña conditions that generally prevailed in the eastern Pacific Ocean from mid-2020 into early 2023 gave way to a strong El Niño by October. Atmospheric concentrations of Earth’s major greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—all increased to record-high levels. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere rose to 419.3±0.1 ppm, which is 50% greater than the pre-industrial level. The growth from 2022 to 2023 was 2.8 ppm, the fourth highest in the record since the 1960s.
The combined short-term effects of El Niño and the long-term effects of increasing levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere contributed to new records for many essential climate variables reported here. The annual global temperature across land and oceans was the highest in records dating as far back as 1850, with the last seven months (June–December) having each been record warm. Over land, the globally averaged temperature was also record high. Dozens of countries reported record or near-record warmth for the year, including China and continental Europe as a whole (warmest on record), India and Russia (second warmest), and Canada (third warmest). Intense and widespread heatwaves were reported around the world. In Vietnam, an all-time national maximum temperature record of 44.2°C was observed at Tuong Duong on 7 May, surpassing the previous record of 43.4°C at Huong Khe on 20 April 2019. In Brazil, the air temperature reached 44.8°C in Araçuaí in Minas Gerais on 20 November, potentially a new national record and 12.8°C above normal.
The effect of rising temperatures was apparent in the cryosphere, where snow cover extent by June 2023 was the smallest in the 56-year record for North America and seventh smallest for the Northern Hemisphere overall. Heatwaves contributed to the greatest average mass balance loss for Alpine glaciers around the world since the start of the record in 1970. Due to rapid volume loss beginning in 2021, St. Anna Glacier in Switzerland and Ice Worm Glacier in the United States disappeared completely. In August, as a direct result of glacial thinning over the past 20 years, a glacial lake on a tributary of the Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska burst through its ice dam and caused unprecedented flooding on Mendenhall River near Juneau.
Across the Arctic, the annual surface air temperature was the fourth highest in the 124-year record, and summer (July–September) was record warm. Smaller-than-normal snow cover extent in May and June contributed to the third-highest average peak tundra greenness in the 24-year record. In September, Arctic minimum sea ice extent was the fifth smallest in the 45-year satellite record. The 17 lowest September extents have all occurred in the last 17 years.
In Antarctica, temperatures for much of the year were up to 6°C above average over the Weddell Sea and along coastal Dronning Maud Land. The Antarctic Peninsula also experienced well-above-average temperatures during the 2022/23 melt season, which contributed to its fourth consecutive summer of above-average surface melt. On 21 February, Antarctic sea ice extent and sea ice area both reached all-time lows, surpassing records set just a year earlier. Over the course of the year, new daily record-low sea ice extents were set on 278 days. In some instances, these daily records were set by a large margin, for example, the extent on 6 July was 1.8 million km2 lower than the previous record low for that day.
Across the global oceans, the annual sea surface temperature was the highest in the 170-year record, far surpassing the previous record of 2016 by 0.13°C. Daily and monthly records were set from March onward, including an historic-high daily global mean sea surface temperature of 18.99°C recorded on 22 August. Approximately 94% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave in 2023, while 27% experienced at least one cold spell. Globally averaged ocean heat content from the surface to 2000-m depth was record high in 2023, increasing at a rate equivalent to ∼0.7 Watts per square meter of energy applied over Earth’s surface. Global mean sea level was also record high for the 12th consecutive year, reaching 101.4 mm above the 1993 average when satellite measurements began, an increase of 8.1±1.5 mm over 2022 and the third highest year-over-year increase in the record.
A total of 82 named tropical storms were observed during the Northern and Southern Hemispheres’ storm seasons, below the 1991–2020 average of 87. Hurricane Otis became the strongest landfalling hurricane on record for the west coast of Mexico at 140 kt (72 m s−1), causing at least 52 fatalities and $12–16 billion U.S. dollars in damage. Freddy became the world’s longest-lived tropical cyclones on record, developing into a tropical cyclone on 6 February and finally dissipating on 12 March. Freddy crossed the full width of the Indian Ocean and made one landfall in Madagascar and two in Mozambique. In the Mediterranean Sea—outside of traditional tropical cyclone basins—heavy rains and flooding from Storm Daniel killed more than 4300 people and left more than 8000 missing in Libya.
The record-warm temperatures in 2023 created conditions that helped intensify the hydrological cycle. Measurements of total-column water vapor in the atmosphere were the highest on record, while the fraction of cloud area in the sky was the lowest since records began in 1980. The annual global mean precipitation total over land surfaces for 2023 was among the lowest since 1979, but global one-day maximum totals were close to average, indicating an increase in rainfall intensity.
In July, record-high areas of land across the globe (7.9%) experienced extreme drought, breaking the previous record of 6.2% in July 2022. Overall, 29.7% of land experienced moderate or worse categories of drought during the year, also a record. Mexico reported its driest (and hottest) year since the start of its record in 1950. In alignment with hot and prolonged dry conditions, Canada experienced its worst national wildfire season on record. Approximately 15 million hectares burned across the country, which was more than double the previous record from 1989. Smoke from the fires were transported far into the United States and even to western European countries. August to October 2023 was the driest three-month period in Australia in the 104-year record. Millions of hectares of bushfires burned for weeks in the Northern Territory. In South America, extreme drought developed in the latter half of the year through the Amazon basin. By the end of October, the Rio Negro at Manaus, a major tributary of the Amazon River, fell to its lowest water level since records began in 1902.
The transition from La Niña to El Niño helped bring relief to the prolonged drought conditions in equatorial eastern Africa. However, El Niño along with positive Indian Ocean dipole conditions also contributed to excessive rainfall that resulted in devastating floods over southeastern Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya during October to December that displaced around 1.5 million people. On 5 September, the town of Zagora, Greece, broke a national record for highest daily rainfall (754 mm in 21 hours, after which the station ceased reporting) due to Storm Daniel; this one-day accumulation was close to Zagora’s normal annual total.
