Hurricane History Map

Australia storm history

743 storms have passed within 50 km of Australia from 1897 to 2026, drawn on the map and coloured by intensity.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

Storms near Australia

The record holds 743 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Australia between 1897 and 2026. The busiest month is January, with 190 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 5 strength. 404 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 743storms within 50 km
  • 44major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 100at category 1 strength or more

A storm counts once, however many times it came close. The category is the storm's strongest point within 50 km, which can be weaker than its peak elsewhere.

How strong were the storms near Australia?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression537%
Tropical storm18625%
Category 1355%
Category 2213%
Category 3172%
Category 4263%
Category 51<1%
Unknown intensity40454%

The agency behind most of the intensity figures here is the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (southern hemisphere).

Australia storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 77 in 1970s.1890s121900s231910s681920s531930s331940s741950s631960s671970s771980s651990s582000s542010s572020s39

The 2020s only run to 2026, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1897, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1890s12
1900s23
1910s68
1920s53
1930s33
1940s74
1950s63
1960s67
1970s77
1980s65
1990s58
2000s54
2010s57
2020s39

Earlier decades hold fewer storms partly because they were harder to see. Before weather satellites (about the 1960s) many storms that stayed at sea went unrecorded, so compare decades with care.

Storms by month
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 190 in Jan.Jan190Feb174Mar175Apr62May14Jun6Jul10Aug1Sep3Oct0Nov12Dec96
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan190
Feb174
Mar175
Apr62
May14
Jun6
Jul10
Aug1
Sep3
Oct0
Nov12
Dec96

Strongest storms near Australia

  • Monica (2006)16 April 2006 to 27 April 2006, peak Category 5 (155 kt), 916 hPa
  • Ingrid (2005)4 March 2005 to 17 March 2005, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 924 hPa
  • Yasi (2011)28 January 2011 to 6 February 2011, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 930 hPa
  • Ilsa (2023)5 April 2023 to 15 April 2023, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 930 hPa
  • Trixie (1975)15 February 1975 to 22 February 1975, peak Category 4 (131 kt), 925 hPa
  • John (2000)9 December 1999 to 16 December 1999, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 915 hPa

Most recent storms near Australia

  • Narelle (2026)15 March 2026 to 28 March 2026, peak Category 4 (124 kt), 931 hPa, provisional
  • Unnamed storm of March 2026 (South Pacific and Australian region)2 March 2026 to 8 March 2026, Tropical depression (25 kt) near here, peak Tropical storm (35 kt), 995 hPa, provisional
  • Mitchell (2026)29 January 2026 to 10 February 2026, peak Category 1 (80 kt), 963 hPa, provisional
  • Luana (2026)21 January 2026 to 28 January 2026, peak Tropical storm (54 kt), 985 hPa, provisional
  • Koji (2026)7 January 2026 to 14 January 2026, peak Tropical storm (51 kt), 987 hPa, provisional

Many of these storms killed people and destroyed homes. The figures are the official record's, and this page says nothing about their human cost.

Australia ranks number 6 among countries and territories for the number of storms.

Notable storms near Australia with their own pages

  • Monica (2006)16 April 2006 to 27 April 2006, peak Category 5 (155 kt), 916 hPa
  • Ingrid (2005)4 March 2005 to 17 March 2005, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 924 hPa
  • Yasi (2011)28 January 2011 to 6 February 2011, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 930 hPa
  • Ilsa (2023)5 April 2023 to 15 April 2023, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 930 hPa
  • Trixie (1975)15 February 1975 to 22 February 1975, peak Category 4 (131 kt), 925 hPa
  • John (2000)9 December 1999 to 16 December 1999, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 915 hPa
  • Laurence (2010)8 December 2009 to 23 December 2009, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 925 hPa
  • Enid (1980)12 February 1980 to 18 February 1980, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 930 hPa
  • Kathy (1984)16 March 1984 to 24 March 1984, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 939 hPa
  • Orson (1989)16 April 1989 to 24 April 1989, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 905 hPa
  • Chloe (1995)29 March 1995 to 9 April 1995, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 920 hPa
  • Olivia (1996)3 April 1996 to 12 April 1996, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 925 hPa

Australia regions

Regions (first-level divisions) that storms have come within 50 km of at least 5 times, most storms first.

RegionStormsStrongest near the region
Western Australia371Category 4
Queensland348Category 4
Northern Territory240Category 5
New South Wales53Tropical storm
South Australia32Tropical storm
Lord Howe Island9Tropical storm
Tasmania9Tropical depression
Victoria9Tropical depression

Other countries

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