Hurricane API
Part of the Foreca Weather API: show your users where hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are now and where they are heading, ready to draw on your map.
Official forecasts from 7 agencies, including NOAA, JMA and JTWC
Tracks and forecasts up to 5 days · storm history since 2020
Included in the Cirrus plan · free 30-day trial
Built for storm season
Hurricane Forecasts helps your users follow a storm from the first bulletin until it fades.
-
Weather apps: add a storm tracker with the track, forecast and cone, so users in the path see what is coming.
-
Travel and cruise apps: let travellers check whether a storm is heading towards their destination or route.
-
News and media sites: add a live storm map to coverage of an approaching hurricane or typhoon.
Hurricane API at a glance
The Cirrus plan includes Hurricane API. Explore the included features below.
Storm data
Position, track, forecast points and uncertainty cone, with storm type, category, wind, gusts, pressure and movement.
Sources
NOAA, RSMC Tokyo (JMA), JTWC, RSMC La Réunion (Météo-France), TCWC Melbourne (Bureau of Meteorology), RSMC Nadi (Fiji) and TCWC Wellington (MetService New Zealand).
Coverage
All main tropical cyclone basins in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, including the Australian region.
Forecast length
Up to 5 days, depending on the agency.
Storm history
Past storms from 2020 onwards, by year and ocean area.
Updates
Foreca checks for new bulletins every 5 minutes. Agencies usually issue them every 3–6 hours.
Units
Wind, gusts and movement in mph, knots, km/h and m/s. Pressure in hPa and inHg.
Format
REST API, GeoJSON with longitude and latitude. Query active or past storms by ocean area.
How your app gets the data
Hurricane Forecasts comes as GeoJSON: one request for the storms active right now, another for past storms. Tracks, forecast points and uncertainty cones are map-ready lines, points and polygons.
What it works best for
Showing your users where a storm is, where it is heading and how strong it is, using the forecast from the agency responsible for that ocean area.
Combine with weather maps
Draw the storm track on top of satellite, wind and pressure map layers, so your users see the cloud system and wind field around the storm
What the storm data shows
Two real points from the API: Hurricane MELISSA at its peak near Jamaica on 28 October 2025, and a forecast point for Typhoon IN-FA.
Example storm data (values rounded)
| Data | Hurricane MELISSA (observation) | Typhoon IN-FA (forecast) | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storm | Hurricane MELISSA | Very strong typhoon IN-FA (インファ) | Storm type and name from the agency. Northwest Pacific storms also have a Japanese name. |
| Source | NOAA | RSMC Tokyo | Agency to show with the data |
| Point | Observed position | Forecast position | Where the storm was, or where the agency expects its centre to be |
| Time | 28 Oct 2025, 10:00 (UTC−5) | 30 Oct 2026, 09:00 (UTC+9) | Local time at the storm |
| Category | Cat 5 Hurricane | Very Strong Typhoon, category 5 | Intensity on the agency's own scale |
| Max wind | 160 kt (296 km/h) | 90 kt (167 km/h) | Highest wind speed |
| Max gusts | 190 kt (352 km/h) | 130 kt (241 km/h) | Highest gusts |
| Pressure | 892 hPa | 940 hPa | Central pressure. Lower means a stronger storm. |
| Movement | North-northeast, 14 km/h | West-northwest, 29 km/h | Direction and speed of the storm |
| Position uncertainty | – | 45 km | Radius around the forecast centre. Grows with forecast time. |
Hurricane API FAQ
Does Foreca make its own hurricane forecasts?
No. The tracks, forecasts and cones come from the official agency for each ocean area, such as NOAA for the Atlantic and RSMC Tokyo for the Northwest Pacific. Each storm includes the agency name, and your app must show it with the data.
Why do storm categories differ between ocean areas?
Each agency uses its own scale. A Category 3 cyclone near Australia is not the same as a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic, and North Indian Ocean storms use the Indian scale from Depression to Super Cyclonic Storm. Show the storm type and label as the agency gives them.
Can I get the storms near my user's location?
Not directly. The API returns storms by ocean area, not by coordinates. Ask for the areas your users care about and compare the storm positions with the user's location in your app.
What does the cone show?
The uncertainty of the forecast track of the storm centre, like the cone of the US National Hurricane Center. It does not show the size of the storm, so strong wind and rain can reach outside it. In the North Indian Ocean the cone is wider, because it shows the area where gale-force winds are possible. Storms near Fiji and New Zealand have no cone.
How often should my app check for new data?
Every 15 to 30 minutes. Checking more often than every 5 minutes brings nothing new, and every request counts towards your quota. A storm leaves the active storms 24 hours after its last bulletin and then appears in the storm history.
Which time zone are the times in?
The local time at the storm, with the UTC offset. Near land the API uses the time zone of that area, and at sea a fixed time zone for the ocean area, for example UTC+9 in the Northwest Pacific. The time the bulletin was issued is in UTC.
Are storms in every ocean covered?
Almost. All the main tropical cyclone basins are covered. Only the rare storms in the South Atlantic are not included.
Is there a hurricane map layer?
No. Hurricane Forecasts gives the tracks and cones as GeoJSON that your app draws on its own map, so you control the style. The Weather Maps layers do not include storm tracks.
Start building with hurricane data
Read the Hurricane Forecasts documentation for the endpoints and fields, and see the weather map layers to add satellite, wind and pressure maps under the track.
Try it first: the 30-day free trial includes the active storms and the 2020 storm history, with 2,000 requests a day and no credit card.