Hurricane History Map

Hurricane Matthew path, 2016

North Atlantic basin, 28 September 2016 to 10 October 2016. Its recorded track is shown on the map and selected for you.

Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

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

Matthew was a hurricane in the North Atlantic basin that lasted about 12 days, from 28 September 2016 to 10 October 2016. Its peak was Category 5 (145 kt) on 1 October 2016, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 145 kt (167 mph, 269 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 934 hPa.

  • Category 5peak intensity
  • 145 ktpeak wind (167 mph)
  • 934 hPalowest pressure
  • 12 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: NOAA National Hurricane Center (HURDAT2, Atlantic).

It has its own page because it reached category 5 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

  • 4 October 2016: Haiti (125 kt)
  • 5 October 2016: Cuba (115 kt)

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.

US counties it came within 50 km of

Showing 12 of 22, strongest 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 2016 North Atlantic season

Other notable storms near Haiti

  • Flora (1963)28 September 1963 to 17 October 1963, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 933 hPa

The 2016 North Atlantic season · All notable storms

Embed this map

Copy this code into your web page. It is free to use. Please keep the link under the map, as it is how people find where the map comes from.