
In an average southern hemisphere spring, the hole expands throughout September and mid October to a maximum extent of about 21 million square kilometres (8 million square miles), an area larger than the United States and Canada combined.
In 2019, the hole reached 16.4 million square kilometers (6.3 million square miles) on September 8, but then shrank to less than 10 million square kilometres (3.9 million square miles) for the remainder of September and the first half of October.



