Global Extreme Weather and Climate Change Dashboard
Tropical Cyclones
Storms -- tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones, and severe convective storms combined -- account for the largest share of both global weather/climate economic losses (about 56%) and deaths (about 27%), 1980-2025 (see Loss Normalization). Global (all-basin) tropical cyclone activity here comes directly from the companion global-tropical-cyclones.com site's HURDAT2/IBTrACS-based catalog: Accumulated Cyclone Energy, storm counts by peak category, ACE per storm, the major-hurricane share of hurricanes, and rapid intensification events. The reliable trend window starts in 1980; a lower-confidence NATL+WPAC-only series extends several of these back to 1945.
Summary Judgment
The global % Cat 3-5 metric does show a detected increase since 1980, nominally matching AR6 -- but the finding traces to a Kossin et al. 2020 result that was substantially narrowed by the authors' later correction and does not survive extension to the full 1945-2025 NATL+WPAC record. Partially consistent, not a clean match.
IPCC finding (AR6 WG1 SPM A.3.4): "It is likely that the global proportion of Category 3-5 tropical cyclone instances has increased over the past four decades." — see the full Detection & Attribution comparison for every phenomenon this site tracks.
Variables on this page
Every variable below is evaluated over a full reliable-trend window against the combined "detected change" standard (IPCC's likelihood criterion plus a magnitude-vs-variability check -- see the homepage or Methodology for the full definitions). Shown as alternative ways of characterizing this same phenomenon -- some from independent sources, others a different construction on the same underlying data (each variable's note says which).
Tropical Cyclones — Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE)
AnnualGlobal (all-basin) Accumulated Cyclone Energy per season, drawn directly from the companion global-tropical-cyclones site's global rollup. Unit: ACE units (10⁴ kt²).
Source: global-tropical-cyclones.com (HURDAT2 + IBTrACS + real-time)
Computing trend…
Select a metric (ACE, named storms, hurricanes, major hurricanes, or Category 5 count) above. The default view covers the global 1980-present reliable window; a lower-confidence "NATL+WPAC combined" series extends the record back to 1945 in the two most active basins, reachable via the time-period preset above. See Methodology for the reliable-window basis and basin coverage.
Tropical Cyclones — Frequency by Category
AnnualExact, per-tier storm counts (not cumulative) for each season, all basins combined -- "MH" here counts storms whose peak intensity topped out as a major hurricane; the ACE panel's mh_count level instead counts storms that reached major-hurricane strength or higher. Unit: storms per season.
Source: global-tropical-cyclones.com (HURDAT2 + IBTrACS + real-time)
Computing trend…
Select a peak-intensity tier above (tropical storm through Category 5), each drawn from GTC's per-storm peak-tier classification. Cat 1 and Cat 2 storms share one band ("H," 64-95kt) rather than separating, matching HURDAT2/IBTrACS convention. A NATL+WPAC-only cross-check, selectable above, tests these findings back to 1945. See Methodology for the full 1980-2025 and 1945-2025 comparison.
Tropical Cyclones — ACE per Storm
AnnualMean lifetime Accumulated Cyclone Energy among named (tropical-storm-strength or higher) storms per season -- separates "more storms" from "more intense storms," a distinction the season-total ACE panel above cannot show. Unit: ACE units (10⁴ kt²) per storm.
Source: global-tropical-cyclones.com (HURDAT2 + IBTrACS + real-time)
Computing trend…
Averages ACE across all named storms, excluding sub-tropical-storm-strength systems (their ACE runs exactly 0 by construction). This metric shows no detected change over 1980-2025, distinct from the % Major Hurricanes panel below, which does show a detected change over the same window. See Methodology for why the two metrics diverge.
Tropical Cyclones — Proportion of Hurricanes That Are Major
AnnualOf storms that became hurricanes/typhoons at all (Cat 1+), the share that went on to become a major hurricane (Cat 3+) -- the major-hurricane SHARE of hurricanes, distinct from mh_count's share of all named storms shown on the ACE panel above. Unit: % of hurricanes.
Source: global-tropical-cyclones.com (HURDAT2 + IBTrACS + real-time)
Computing trend…
Excludes seasons with zero hurricanes. A NATL+WPAC-only cross-check, selectable above, tests this finding's robustness back to 1945. See Methodology for the full 1980-2025 and 1945-2025 comparison.
Tropical Cyclones — Rapid Intensification
AnnualPercentage of named storms per season with at least one rapid-intensification episode -- a 30kt-or-greater increase in maximum sustained wind within 24 hours, the standard NHC definition, computed from GTC's 6-hourly best-track fixes. Unit: % of named storms.
Source: global-tropical-cyclones.com (HURDAT2 + IBTrACS + real-time)
Computing trend…
Select the percentage or raw count of storms with a rapid-intensification episode above. Compares each storm only against its own fix 24 hours earlier. See Methodology for the Hurricane Otis validation check.