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Play video of Hurricane Tracks visualizationHurricane Tracks (1mb)

Hurricane Tracks Animation and Cumulative Map

Description:

Tracking historical hurricanes is an important way for hurricane researchers to learn about the paths of future hurricanes. Because of this, records of hurricane paths are archived and studied. Not all hurricanes follow the same path, but there are certainly noticeable trends for hurricane paths. Many computer models that have been created to predict hurricane paths include the historical data in their models.

Play video of Hurricane Tracks visualizationAccumulative Hurricane Tracks 1950 - 2005 (9 mb)

There are two datasets that display hurricane tracks. The first is an animation that runs from January 1, 2000 through October 3, 2006 and displays the tracks of all of the hurricanes that occurred during this time period. The hurricanes are depicted by red dots in the dataset. For each day, the hurricane track appears as a series of four red dots. The red dots are spaced out according to how fast the hurricane was moving. When a hurricane moved very little over a 24 hour period, the four red dots appear clustered together. To represent a hurricane that traveled a long distance in one day the four red dots are spaced to cover that distance. The summer and spring are calm seasons. The hurricane activity begins to pick up late each summer and typically lasts through the fall. The unusually long hurricane season of 2005 can be seen in this dataset. The second dataset shows the paths of all recorded hurricanes worldwide from 1950 - 2005. The dots show the locations of the tropical storms at six hour intervals and are shaded according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale using the provided color bar. Notice that no hurricanes cross the equator.

Chart of Hurricane Scale

Notable Features: Animation

  • Hurricane tracks from January 1, 2000 through October 3, 2006
  • Hurricane tracks represented by red dots
  • Spacing of dots proportional to distance traveled in one day

Notable Features: Cumulative Map

  • All recorded hurricanes worldwide from 1950 - 2005 are included
  • The dots show the locations of the hurricanes at six hour intervals
  • No hurricanes cross the equator

    • Data Category

    Major: Atmosphere

    Keywords:

    Atmosphere, hurricanes, tracks

    Data Set NameHurricane Tracks
    Data Set Directory Namehurricane_tracks/animation
    Data Set SourceNational Hurricane Center
    Data Set DeveloperDave Fischman, NOAA/NGDC; John Cartwright, NOAA/NGDC
    Visualization DeveloperMike Biere, NOAA/GSD
    AudioNo
    ContactDave Fischman, NOAA/NGDC; John Cartwright, NOAA/NGDC
    DownloadFTP

    Data Set NameAccumulative Hurricane Tracks 1950 - 2005
    Data Set Directory Namehurricane_tracks/cumulative
    Data Set SourceNational Hurricane Center, Joint Typhoon Warning Center
    Data Set DeveloperNational Hurricane Center, Joint Typhoon Warning Center
    Visualization Developer Nilfanion
    AudioNo
    ContactNilfanion
    DownloadFTP