Hurricane History Map

Hong Kong storm history

116 storms have passed within 50 km of Hong Kong from 1885 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 Hong Kong

The record holds 116 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Hong Kong between 1885 and 2026. The busiest month is August, with 30 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 4 strength. 50 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 116storms within 50 km
  • 7major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 31at 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 Hong Kong?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression87%
Tropical storm2723%
Category 11412%
Category 2109%
Category 343%
Category 433%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity5043%

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

Hong Kong storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 13 in 1940s.1880s1900s1920s1940s1960s1980s2000s2020s

The 2020s only run to 2026, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1885, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1880s5
1890s6
1900s7
1910s6
1920s4
1930s3
1940s13
1950s9
1960s13
1970s13
1980s4
1990s9
2000s13
2010s6
2020s5

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 30 in Aug.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May3Jun13Jul29Aug30Sep26Oct9Nov5Dec1
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May3
Jun13
Jul29
Aug30
Sep26
Oct9
Nov5
Dec1

Strongest storms near Hong Kong

  • Rita (1953)23 August 1953 to 3 September 1953, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 940 hPa
  • Ruby (1964)1 September 1964 to 6 September 1964, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 970 hPa
  • Saola (2023)22 August 2023 to 4 September 2023, Category 4 (115 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 920 hPa
  • Susan (1953)12 September 1953 to 20 September 1953, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 970 hPa
  • Rose (1971)6 August 1971 to 17 August 1971, Category 3 (110 kt) near here, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 960 hPa
  • Hope (1979)24 July 1979 to 10 August 1979, Category 3 (105 kt) near here, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 900 hPa

Most recent storms near Hong Kong

  • Noul (2026)23 July 2026 to 26 July 2026, peak Category 2 (84 kt), 967 hPa, provisional
  • Danas (2025)3 July 2025 to 11 July 2025, Unknown intensity near here, peak Category 2 (89 kt), 965 hPa, provisional
  • Saola (2023)22 August 2023 to 4 September 2023, Category 4 (115 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 920 hPa
  • Nalgae (2022)26 October 2022 to 3 November 2022, Tropical storm (40 kt) near here, peak Category 1 (75 kt), 975 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of August 2022 (Western North Pacific)3 August 2022 to 4 August 2022, peak Tropical depression (25 kt), 1,001 hPa

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.

Hong Kong ranks number 29 among countries and territories for the number of storms.

Notable storms near Hong Kong with their own pages

  • Rita (1953)23 August 1953 to 3 September 1953, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 940 hPa
  • Ruby (1964)1 September 1964 to 6 September 1964, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 970 hPa
  • Saola (2023)22 August 2023 to 4 September 2023, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 920 hPa
  • Susan (1953)12 September 1953 to 20 September 1953, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 970 hPa
  • Rose (1971)6 August 1971 to 17 August 1971, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 960 hPa
  • Hope (1979)24 July 1979 to 10 August 1979, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 900 hPa
  • Dujuan (2003)27 August 2003 to 3 September 2003, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 950 hPa
  • Ida (1964)1 August 1964 to 12 August 1964, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 925 hPa
  • Sally (1964)3 September 1964 to 11 September 1964, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 895 hPa
  • Hato (2017)19 August 2017 to 25 August 2017, peak Category 2 (90 kt), 965 hPa
  • Ingrid (1946)12 July 1946 to 20 July 1946, peak Category 4 (120 kt)
  • Pamela (1954)26 October 1954 to 8 November 1954, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 900 hPa

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