Hurricane History Map

Tonga storm history

86 storms have passed within 50 km of Tonga from 1946 to 2021, drawn on the map and coloured by intensity.

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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 Tonga

The record holds 86 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Tonga between 1946 and 2021. The busiest month is February, with 23 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 5 strength. 21 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 86storms within 50 km
  • 6major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 15at 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 Tonga?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression56%
Tropical storm4552%
Category 156%
Category 245%
Category 333%
Category 422%
Category 511%
Unknown intensity2124%

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

Tonga storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 17 in 1970s.1940s31950s41960s81970s171980s141990s92000s152010s132020s3

The 2020s only run to 2021, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1946, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1940s3
1950s4
1960s8
1970s17
1980s14
1990s9
2000s15
2010s13
2020s3

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 23 in Feb.Jan22Feb23Mar12Apr13May0Jun0Jul0Aug0Sep0Oct0Nov2Dec14
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan22
Feb23
Mar12
Apr13
May0
Jun0
Jul0
Aug0
Sep0
Oct0
Nov2
Dec14

Strongest storms near Tonga

  • Ron (1998)1 January 1998 to 9 January 1998, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 900 hPa
  • Ian (2014)4 January 2014 to 15 January 2014, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 935 hPa
  • Gita (2018)7 February 2018 to 22 February 2018, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 927 hPa
  • Isaac (1982)27 February 1982 to 5 March 1982, peak Category 3 (108 kt), 930 hPa
  • Waka (2002)28 December 2001 to 6 January 2002, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 930 hPa
  • Eseta (2003)8 March 2003 to 15 March 2003, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 925 hPa

Most recent storms near Tonga

  • Zazu (2021)12 December 2020 to 16 December 2020, peak Tropical storm (55 kt), 980 hPa
  • Tino (2020)15 January 2020 to 20 January 2020, peak Category 2 (85 kt), 970 hPa
  • Sarai (2020)24 December 2019 to 2 January 2020, Tropical storm (50 kt) near here, peak Category 1 (75 kt), 971 hPa
  • Pola (2019)25 February 2019 to 3 March 2019, Tropical storm (45 kt) near here, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 950 hPa
  • Neil (2019)9 February 2019 to 10 February 2019, peak Tropical storm (40 kt), 994 hPa

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.

Notable storms near Tonga with their own pages

  • Ron (1998)1 January 1998 to 9 January 1998, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 900 hPa
  • Ian (2014)4 January 2014 to 15 January 2014, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 935 hPa
  • Gita (2018)7 February 2018 to 22 February 2018, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 927 hPa
  • Isaac (1982)27 February 1982 to 5 March 1982, peak Category 3 (108 kt), 930 hPa
  • Waka (2002)28 December 2001 to 6 January 2002, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 930 hPa
  • Eseta (2003)8 March 2003 to 15 March 2003, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 925 hPa
  • Rene (2010)9 February 2010 to 19 February 2010, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 945 hPa
  • Sina (1991)23 November 1990 to 4 December 1990, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 960 hPa
  • Ula (2016)29 December 2015 to 16 January 2016, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 937 hPa
  • Wilma (2011)20 January 2011 to 30 January 2011, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 939 hPa
  • Nigel (1985)14 January 1985 to 28 January 1985, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 955 hPa
  • Winston (2016)9 February 2016 to 28 February 2016, peak Category 5 (155 kt), 884 hPa

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