perfect storm

American  

noun

1. Meteorology. a very intense and powerful storm arising from the convergence of an unusual set of weather patterns.

   A dying Hurricane Grace delivered the immeasurable tropical energy needed to create the perfect storm.

2. a detrimental or calamitous situation or event arising from the powerful combined effect of a unique set of circumstances.

   a perfect storm battering corporate pension plans.

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perfect storm British  

noun

1. a combination of events which are not individually dangerous, but occurring together produce a disastrous outcome

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Etymology

Origin of perfect storm

First recorded in 1935–40 in meteorological sense; in 1997 for current sense, from The Perfect Storm, a nonfiction book by Sebastian Junger, U.S. journalist and author (born 1962)

Example Sentences

"It was a bit of a perfect storm."

From BBC

“It’s a perfect storm for accelerated aging. Hands don’t just wrinkle, they deflate.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“It was like a perfect storm of buyers trying to get in, and maybe get a little bit of a lower rate, and sellers not putting their homes up,” he says.

From Barron's

"It's kind of like a perfect storm," Williams said.

From Science Daily

Younger generations—young millennials and Gen Z—have grown up in the perfect storm.

From The Wall Street Journal