Hurricane & Typhoon History Map
Tropical cyclone tracks since 1980 on a world timeline — drag the year, or press play
Tips
Scrub the Seasons — or Let Them Spin
Drag the year slider to any season since 1980, or press play and watch storm tracks sweep across the oceans year after year. Recent seasons draw bright while older ones fade, so busy basins reveal themselves at a glance.
Track Color Is Intensity
Each storm is one curved line from birth to dissipation, and the line changes color as the storm strengthens or weakens — gray for depressions, blue for tropical storms, then yellow through deep red as it climbs the category scale. A track that turns dark red crossed into Category 4 or 5 territory.
One Map, Every Basin
Hurricanes in the Atlantic, typhoons in the western Pacific, cyclones in the Indian Ocean — they are all the same phenomenon with different regional names, and this map shows them together. Drag the map sideways and it wraps around, so you can center whichever ocean you care about.
Hover a Track for the Storm's Story
Point at any line and the popup names the storm and sums up its life: peak wind, lowest pressure, top category, dates, and whether it made landfall. The two most useful numbers — peak wind and minimum pressure — are how meteorologists rank storms in the record books.
Common Use Cases
Geography and Earth Science Class
Play a few decades and the classic storm corridors draw themselves — the westward march across the tropical Atlantic, the recurving arcs off East Asia. No textbook needed.
Looking Up a Storm You Remember
Katrina 2005, Haiyan 2013, Jebi 2018 — jump to the year, find the track, and see the storm's whole life from genesis to landfall in one line.
News Background Research
When a storm makes headlines, check the region's history: how often strong storms pass there, what routes they usually take, and how this one compares.
Travel Season Planning
Planning a trip to the Caribbean in September or Okinawa in August? Scrub a few past seasons and see how often storms actually crossed your destination.
Data Storytelling
Writers and educators can capture scenes like the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic season — 28 storms crowding one basin — framed exactly how they want.
Disaster Preparedness at Home
Knowing how often intense storms have actually approached your coast — and from which direction — is a solid first step when reviewing your own preparations.