Cyclone Gabrielle

Severe Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle

Gabrielle near its peak intensity on 10 February
Meteorological history
Formed	5 February 2023
Subtropical	11 February 2023
Dissipated	16 February 2023
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (BOM)
Highest winds	150 km/h (90 mph)
Lowest pressure	959 hPa (mbar); 28.32 inHg
Category 4 severe tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (FMS)
Highest winds	165 km/h (105 mph)
Lowest pressure	958 hPa (mbar); 28.29 inHg
Category 2-equivalent tropical cyclone
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds	165 km/h (105 mph)
Lowest pressure	958 hPa (mbar); 28.29 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	11 direct, 1 indirect
Missing	1
Damage	≥$8.4 billion (2023 USD) (Costliest tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere)
Areas affected	Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Norfolk Island, New Zealand (especially North Island)
IBTrACS / [1]
Part of the 2022–23 South Pacific and Australian region cyclone seasons

Severe Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle was a destructive tropical cyclone that devastated parts of the North Island of New Zealand and affected parts of Vanuatu and Australia in February 2023. It is the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere, with total damages estimated to be at least NZ$13.5 billion (US$8.4 billion),^[2] of which the cost of insured damage is at least NZ$1.79 billion (US$1.1 billion).^[3] The total cost in the Hastings District alone is estimated to surpass NZ$2 billion (US$1.25 billion).^[4] It was also the deadliest cyclone and weather event overall to hit New Zealand since Cyclone Giselle in 1968, surpassing Cyclone Bola in 1988.^[5][6][7] The fifth named storm of the 2022–23 Australian region cyclone season, and the first severe tropical cyclone of the 2022–23 South Pacific cyclone season, Gabrielle was first noted as a developing tropical low on 6 February 2023, while it was located on the south of the Solomon Islands, before it was classified as a tropical cyclone and named Gabrielle by the Bureau of Meteorology. The system peaked as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone before moving into the South Pacific basin, then rapidly degenerated into a subtropical low on 11 February 2023.

Norfolk Island was placed under a red alert as Gabrielle approached, while heavy rain and wind warnings were issued across the North Island of New Zealand. Existing states of emergency in Auckland and the Coromandel due to recent floods were extended, and new states of emergency were declared in other areas. The cyclone impacted New Zealand from 11 to 17 February, with a national state of emergency being declared on 14 February 2023. All states of emergency had been lifted by 14 March.^[8]