Worldwide Hurricane Records

Earliest hurricane in a season:
Hurricane Alex (January 12, 2016, Atlantic)

Hurricane Pali (January 7, 2016, Central Pacific)

Latest hurricane in a season:
Hurricane Alice (January 5, 1955, Atlantic)

Hurricane Paka (December 7, 1997, Central Pacific)

Strongest intensification in 24 hours:
Hurricane Wilma (2005) – 105 mph intensification, from 982 mb to 882 mb

Hurricane Patricia (2015) – 120 mph intensification, but over 25 hours

Deadliest Atlantic hurricane:
Great Hurricane of 1780 (Antilles, Bermuda) – est. 22,000-27,501 deaths

Deadliest Pacific hurricane:
1959 Mexico Hurricane – est. 1,800 deaths

Deadliest U.S. hurricane:
Galveston Hurricane (1900) – est. 6,000-12,000 deaths

Most damaging hurricane (adjusted for inflation):
Hurricane Katrina (2005) – $125 billion in damages

Strongest Atlantic hurricane (by wind speed):
Hurricane Allen (1980) – 190 mph sustained winds

Strongest Pacific hurricane (by wind speed):
Hurricane Patricia (2015) – 215 mph sustained winds

Longest-lasting tropical cyclone:
Hurricane/Typhoon John (1994) – 31 days as a tropical cyclone

Highest storm surge:
Hurricane Katrina (2005) – 27.8 ft surge recorded at Pass Christian, MS

Most tornadoes spawned:
Hurricane Ivan (2004) – 120 confirmed tornadoes

Largest in size (diameter of gale-force winds):
Super Typhoon Tip (1979) – 1,380 miles in diameter

Most active season (Atlantic):
2020 – 30 named storms, 14 hurricanes, 7 major

Most active season (Eastern Pacific):
2015 – 26 named storms, 16 hurricanes, 11 major

Highest recorded wind gust:
Hurricane Irma (2017) – 199 mph gust recorded on Barbuda

Smallest in size:
Tropical Storm Marco (2008) – Gale force winds extended only 11.5 miles from the center

Most rapidly intensifying hurricane:
Hurricane Ida (2021) – Pressure dropped 56 mb in 6 hours

Longest-lived Category 5 hurricane:
Hurricane Ioke (2006) – Maintained Category 5 status for 3.5 days

Most consecutive seasons with at least one Category 5 hurricane (Atlantic):
2016-2021 – 6 consecutive seasons

Most Category 5 landfalls in a single season:
2007 – 2 landfalls (Dean and Felix)

Highest latitude hurricane:
Hurricane Faith (1966) – Reached 61.1°N in the Atlantic

Farthest traveled by a tropical cyclone:
Hurricane/Typhoon John (1994) – Traveled 7,165 miles

Most expensive Pacific hurricane:
Hurricane Manuel (2013) – $4.2 billion in damages

Longest-lived February tropical cyclone:
Hurricane Able (1952) – Lasted 8 days in the Atlantic

Most retired storm names in a single season (Atlantic):
2005 – 5 names retired (Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, Wilma)

Fastest forward motion:
Tropical Storm Six (1961) – Traveled at 69 mph in the Atlantic