Which hurricane in 2022 was the strongest to hit the United States that year?

Hurricane Ian was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in 2022. It briefly reached Category 5 intensity over the Gulf of Mexico before striking southwestern Florida on September 28 as a high-end Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 150 mph.

Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa Island and then near Punta Gorda, producing catastrophic storm surge, destructive winds, and widespread flooding. It later crossed Florida, regained hurricane strength over the Atlantic, and made another landfall in South Carolina.

The storm is sometimes confused with Hurricane Fiona, which became a powerful Category 4 hurricane and devastated parts of Atlantic Canada. Fiona, however, did not strike the United States as a hurricane. Ian was the only Category 5 hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season and became the strongest storm to hit the United States that year by wind intensity.

Ian caused more than $110 billion in damage and was the deadliest hurricane to strike Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.