Cebu, Philippines: storm history

189 storms have passed within 50 km of Cebu from 1884 to 2026. The map shows Philippines; search for a town in Cebu 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 Cebu

The record holds 189 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Cebu, Philippines between 1884 and 2026. The busiest month is November, with 58 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 5 strength. 84 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 189storms within 50 km
  • 9major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 27at 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 Cebu?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression4222%
Tropical storm3619%
Category 195%
Category 295%
Category 332%
Category 453%
Category 51<1%
Unknown intensity8444%

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

Cebu storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 22 in 1970s.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
1880s6
1890s2
1900s7
1910s11
1920s9
1930s19
1940s10
1950s13
1960s17
1970s22
1980s15
1990s19
2000s15
2010s20
2020s4

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 58 in Nov.Jan11Feb7Mar8Apr15May10Jun10Jul6Aug5Sep6Oct21Nov58Dec32
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan11
Feb7
Mar8
Apr15
May10
Jun10
Jul6
Aug5
Sep6
Oct21
Nov58
Dec32

Strongest storms near Cebu

  • Haiyan (2013)2 November 2013 to 11 November 2013, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 895 hPa
  • Rai (2021)11 December 2021 to 21 December 2021, Category 4 (135 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 915 hPa
  • Wilma (1952)21 October 1952 to 31 October 1952, Category 4 (120 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (160 kt), 930 hPa
  • Agnes (1984)28 October 1984 to 9 November 1984, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 925 hPa
  • Mike (1990)6 November 1990 to 18 November 1990, Category 4 (120 kt) near here, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 915 hPa

Most recent storms near Cebu

  • Penha (2026)3 February 2026 to 7 February 2026, Tropical depression (29 kt) near here, peak Tropical storm (39 kt), 1,002 hPa, provisional
  • Koto (2025)23 November 2025 to 3 December 2025, Tropical depression (29 kt) near here, peak Category 1 (80 kt), 970 hPa, provisional
  • Kalmaegi (2025)31 October 2025 to 7 November 2025, Category 2 (89 kt) near here, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 950 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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