hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

2002 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 14 storms · 14 Jul 2002–16 Oct 2002

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY67.4
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2002 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 14 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalArthur: 14 Jul–16 Jul, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormBertha: 4 Aug–9 Aug, peak 35 kt, Tropical stormCristobal: 5 Aug–8 Aug, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormDolly: 29 Aug–4 Sep, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormEdouard: 1 Sep–6 Sep, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormFay: 5 Sep–8 Sep, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 7 Sep–8 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionGustav: 10 Sep–12 Sep, peak 85 kt, Category 2Hanna: 12 Sep–15 Sep, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormIsidore: 14 Sep–27 Sep, peak 110 kt, Category 3Josephine: 17 Sep–19 Sep, peak 43 kt, Tropical stormKyle: 23 Sep–12 Oct, peak 75 kt, Category 1Lili: 21 Sep–4 Oct, peak 125 kt, Category 4Unnamed: 14 Oct–16 Oct, peak 30 kt, Tropical depression

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Arthur–50Tropical storm9972,290
Bertha–35Tropical storm1007660
Cristobal–45Tropical storm999410
Dolly–50Tropical storm9971,820
Edouard–55Tropical storm1002590
Fay–50Tropical storm998610
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1013210
Gustav–85Cat 29602,660
Hanna–50Tropical storm1001650
Isidore–110Cat 39343,500
Josephine–43Tropical storm1007730
Lili–125Cat 49383,590
Kyle–75Cat 19803,660
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1002400

14 storms with an IBTrACS 2002 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 14 Jul 2002, last 16 Oct 2002.

Tropical storms12

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes4

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)2

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormLili

125 kt · 144 mph / 232 km/h

Lowest pressure934 hPa

Isidore, 22 Sept 2002

Longest track record21.8 days

Kyle, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 2002 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 4 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 12 tropical storms, with 2 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season?

Lili, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 125 kt (Category 4) on 2 Oct 2002, 20:13 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 938 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 2002?

None. No storm in the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 14 Jul 2002 and the last on 16 Oct 2002, from 14 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season?

Gustav, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 11 Sept 2002, 09:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 2002 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology