hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

2016 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 16 storms · 14 Jan 2016–26 Nov 2016

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY142.5
Open in the explorerExplore
2016 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 16 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 BengalAlex: 14 Jan–15 Jan, peak 75 kt, Category 1Bonnie: 27 May–4 Jun, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormColin: 5 Jun–7 Jun, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormDanielle: 19 Jun–21 Jun, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormEarl: 2 Aug–6 Aug, peak 75 kt, Category 1Fiona: 16 Aug–23 Aug, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormGaston: 22 Aug–2 Sep, peak 105 kt, Category 3Unnamed: 28 Aug–1 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionHermine: 28 Aug–3 Sep, peak 70 kt, Category 1Ian: 12 Sep–16 Sep, peak 53 kt, Tropical stormKarl: 14 Sep–25 Sep, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormJulia: 13 Sep–18 Sep, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormLisa: 19 Sep–25 Sep, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormMatthew: 28 Sep–9 Oct, peak 145 kt, Category 5Nicole: 4 Oct–18 Oct, peak 120 kt, Category 4Otto: 20 Nov–26 Nov, peak 100 kt, Category 3

Drag to pan · Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the whole map.

Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Alex–75Cat 19814,800
Bonnie–40Tropical storm10063,390
Colin–45Tropical storm10012,050
Danielle–40Tropical storm1007450
Earl–75Cat 19791,180
Fiona–45Tropical storm10042,160
Gaston–105Cat 39554,070
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1010820
Hermine–70Cat 19812,220
Ian–53Tropical storm9922,550
Julia–45Tropical storm10071,120
Karl–60Tropical storm9884,600
Lisa–45Tropical storm9991,550
Matthew–145Cat 59342,620
Nicole–120Cat 49503,530
Otto–100Cat 39751,230

16 storms with an IBTrACS 2016 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 14 Jan 2016, last 26 Nov 2016.

Tropical storms15

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

Hurricanes7

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)4

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 51

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormMatthew

145 kt · 167 mph / 269 km/h

Lowest pressure934 hPa

Matthew, 4 Oct 2016

Longest track record15.3 days

Nicole, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 2016 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 7 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 15 tropical storms, with 4 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season?

Matthew, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 145 kt (Category 5) on 1 Oct 2016, 00:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 934 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 2016?

1 storm in the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: Matthew.

When did the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 14 Jan 2016 and the last on 26 Nov 2016, from 16 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season?

Alex, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 14 Jan 2016, 06:00 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 2016 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