Tropical cyclones

At a glance

These maps show the average annual number of tropical cyclones through the Australian region in El Niño, La Niña, neutral years and using all years of data.

What do the maps show?

Tropical cyclones are low pressure systems that form over warm tropical waters and have well defined wind circulations of at least gale force strength (sustained winds of 63 km/h or greater with gusts in excess of 90 km/h).

These maps show the average number of tropical cyclones through the Australian region and surrounding waters in El Niño years, La Niña years, neutral years and using all years of data. The data are based on a 36 year period from the 1969/70 to 2005/06 tropical cyclone season.

The maps are useful for identifying the regions where tropical cyclones are more likely to occur during El Niño years, La Niña years and neutral years. They are also useful for comparing the occurrence of tropical cyclones using all years of data, to the occurrence during La Niña years, for example.

More detailed information can be found on tropical cyclones, including any current cyclones, cyclone outlooks, previous tropical cyclones and additional information on tropical cyclone climatologies.

Further information

• About the maps - metadata and related information.
• Have a look at our tropical cyclone warning services.
• Find out how climate statistics are calculated.
• Information about the range of gridded climate data we can provide.
• Information about additional climate products and other data available from the Bureau of Meteorology.
• Learn about the influences on the Australian climate, including El Niño and La Niña.
• Explore other topics relating to climate education.
• Download Tropical Cyclone data from the Australian region.