Okinawa, Japan: storm history

631 storms have passed within 50 km of Okinawa from 1884 to 2026. The map shows Japan; search for a town in Okinawa 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 Okinawa

The record holds 631 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Okinawa, Japan between 1884 and 2026. The busiest month is August, with 202 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 5 strength. 276 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 631storms within 50 km
  • 108major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 210at 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 Okinawa?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression315%
Tropical storm11418%
Category 1518%
Category 2518%
Category 3498%
Category 4488%
Category 5112%
Unknown intensity27644%

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

Okinawa storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 60 in 2010s.1880s1900s1920s1940s1960s1980s2000s2020s

The 2020s only run to 2026, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1884, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1880s17
1890s31
1900s33
1910s56
1920s42
1930s40
1940s44
1950s45
1960s55
1970s47
1980s38
1990s45
2000s46
2010s60
2020s32

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 202 in Aug.Jan0Feb2Mar1Apr5May20Jun54Jul133Aug202Sep135Oct50Nov23Dec6
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb2
Mar1
Apr5
May20
Jun54
Jul133
Aug202
Sep135
Oct50
Nov23
Dec6

Strongest storms near Okinawa

  • Sarah (1959)10 September 1959 to 23 September 1959, peak Category 5 (165 kt), 905 hPa
  • Mary (1965)14 August 1965 to 25 August 1965, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 950 hPa
  • Cora (1966)28 August 1966 to 9 September 1966, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 918 hPa
  • Maemi (2003)4 September 2003 to 16 September 2003, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 910 hPa
  • Wanda (1956)24 July 1956 to 5 August 1956, peak Category 5 (160 kt), 915 hPa

Most recent storms near Okinawa

  • Krovanh (2026)1 September 2026 to 9 September 2026, peak Tropical storm (45 kt), 982 hPa, provisional
  • Saudel (2026)18 August 2026 to 28 August 2026, Category 2 (93 kt) near here, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 944 hPa, provisional
  • Dolphin (2026)27 July 2026 to 9 August 2026, Category 2 (89 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (144 kt), 915 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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