Queensland, Australia: storm history

348 storms have passed within 50 km of Queensland from 1897 to 2026. The map shows Australia; search for a town in Queensland to see storms near it.

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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 Queensland

The record holds 348 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Queensland, Australia between 1897 and 2026. The busiest month is February, with 92 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 4 strength. 196 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 348storms within 50 km
  • 10major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 30at 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 Queensland?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression3811%
Tropical storm8424%
Category 1154%
Category 251%
Category 341%
Category 462%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity19656%

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

Queensland storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 38 in 1910s.1890s41900s61910s381920s291930s181940s371950s371960s251970s371980s231990s282000s232010s282020s15

The 2020s only run to 2026, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1897, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1890s4
1900s6
1910s38
1920s29
1930s18
1940s37
1950s37
1960s25
1970s37
1980s23
1990s28
2000s23
2010s28
2020s15

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 92 in Feb.Jan91Feb92Mar81Apr25May8Jun5Jul6Aug0Sep0Oct0Nov2Dec38
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan91
Feb92
Mar81
Apr25
May8
Jun5
Jul6
Aug0
Sep0
Oct0
Nov2
Dec38

Strongest storms near Queensland

  • Yasi (2011)28 January 2011 to 6 February 2011, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 930 hPa
  • Ita (2014)2 April 2014 to 18 April 2014, Category 4 (125 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 922 hPa
  • Marcia (2015)16 February 2015 to 22 February 2015, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 932 hPa
  • Narelle (2026)15 March 2026 to 28 March 2026, peak Category 4 (124 kt), 931 hPa, provisional
  • Larry (2006)14 March 2006 to 21 March 2006, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 949 hPa

Most recent storms near Queensland

  • Narelle (2026)15 March 2026 to 28 March 2026, peak Category 4 (124 kt), 931 hPa, provisional
  • Unnamed storm of March 2026 (South Pacific and Australian region)2 March 2026 to 8 March 2026, Tropical depression (25 kt) near here, peak Tropical storm (35 kt), 995 hPa, provisional
  • Koji (2026)7 January 2026 to 14 January 2026, peak Tropical storm (51 kt), 987 hPa, provisional

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.

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