Records
Longest-lasting tropical cyclone: Freddy, 36 days
Most tropical cyclones are finished within a week. Freddy was still going after a month, having crossed most of the Indian Ocean and come back to land more than once.
Answer: Cyclone Freddy (2023), 36.0 days at tropical storm strength or above, as recognized by the World Meteorological Organization.
A storm that crossed an ocean
The archive's first Freddy position is 4 February 2023, far off the northwest coast of Australia, and its last is 14 March 2023, about 38 days later. The track runs west across the southern Indian Ocean to Madagascar and Mozambique, with a return to Mozambique later in the storm. The Freddy storm page shows every position.
The record and the runner-up
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found that Freddy held tropical storm strength or above for 36.0 days. The previous record was Tropical Cyclone John in 1994, at 29.75 days. John still holds the distance mark at 13,159 km, with Freddy second at 12,785 km. The WMO announced the record in July 2024, more than a year after the storm, once its committee had checked the data. The WMO's announcement has the details.
What the measure counts
The record measures only time at tropical storm strength or above, so it is shorter than the storm's full life. The archive's positions are mostly three-hourly, so its tropical-stage span for Freddy differs slightly from the WMO analysis. The WMO figure is the official answer.