Hurricane History Map

Cyclone Idai path, 2019

South-West Indian basin, 4 March 2019 to 16 March 2019. Its recorded track is shown on the map and selected for you.

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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.

What the record says

Idai was a cyclone in the South-West Indian basin that lasted about 12 days, from 4 March 2019 to 16 March 2019. Its peak was Category 4 (115 kt) on 13 March 2019, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 115 kt (132 mph, 213 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 940 hPa.

  • Category 4peak intensity
  • 115 ktpeak wind (132 mph)
  • 940 hPalowest pressure
  • 12 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (southern hemisphere). The regional forecast centre (RSMC La Reunion (Meteo-France)) gave a peak of 105 kt on its own averaging convention (10-minute winds), so the two figures differ.

It has its own page because it reached category 4 or stronger and it is a well-known storm.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

A landfall here is the first tropical position over land after time at sea, so it is within about six hours of the real event. The record shows up to 8.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.

Other notable storms of the 2019 South-West Indian season

Other notable storms near French Southern and Antarctic Lands

  • Bansi (2015)8 January 2015 to 19 January 2015, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 910 hPa
  • Andry (1984)5 December 1983 to 16 December 1983, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 927 hPa
  • Hudah (2000)22 March 2000 to 9 April 2000, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 905 hPa
  • Doaza (1988)21 January 1988 to 1 February 1988, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 954 hPa
  • Erinesta (1986)29 January 1986 to 11 February 1986, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 927 hPa

The 2019 South-West Indian season · All notable storms

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