Hurricane Path Maps

HURDAT2 is the National Hurricane Center's revised best-track dataset for Atlantic and eastern North Pacific tropical cyclones. It contains post-storm analyzed track positions, intensity, and pressure at 6-hour intervals back to 1851 (Atlantic) and 1949 (Pacific). The HURDAT2 record is the canonical reference for hurricane research.

Only four Atlantic hurricanes have made US landfall at Category 5 intensity since record-keeping began: the 1935 Labor Day hurricane (Florida Keys), Hurricane Camille (1969, Mississippi), Hurricane Andrew (1992, Florida — upgraded in 2002 reanalysis), and Hurricane Michael (2018, Florida Panhandle). Hurricane Ian (2022) was upgraded to Category 5 at landfall in the 2024 reanalysis, making it the fifth.

The Saffir-Simpson scale categorizes Atlantic and eastern Pacific hurricanes by their maximum sustained 1-minute wind speed: Category 1 (74–95 mph), Category 2 (96–110 mph), Category 3 (111–129 mph, major), Category 4 (130–156 mph, major), and Category 5 (157+ mph, major). The scale was developed by engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson in the early 1970s.

Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Harvey (2017) are essentially tied as the costliest US tropical cyclones, each causing approximately $125 billion in damage in their respective years (the 2024-adjusted figures are roughly $200 billion for Katrina and $158 billion for Harvey). Hurricane Ian (2022) is third at approximately $113 billion.