11 Atlantic storms gained 55 knots in a day before 2000. 26 have since.
Rapid intensification, a storm exploding in strength within 24 hours, is what turned Milton, Erin and Melissa into Category 5 hurricanes. The official record has 6-hourly winds for all 1,198 Atlantic storms since 1950. Count them yourself.
Your call first
30
Every storm since 1950, by its fastest day
Each dot is one storm. Height is its biggest 24-hour wind gain, colour is the peak category it reached. Move the threshold and the split year and watch where the change lives.
11
26
Tap or click a dot to open that storm below.
Decade by decade
Bars show storms at or above your threshold. The label gives the share of all storms in that decade.
Open the storm
Pick one of the 12 biggest 24-hour gains, or a dot above
All storms above the threshold
Storm
Gain in 24 h
Peak
Read with care. Older best-track winds are rounded to 5 knots and rest on far fewer observations, so some early gains were surely missed. Satellite and aircraft coverage improved over these years. The jump is real in the record, but part of it may be better measurement. The 2026 season is not in the best track yet.
Sources
NOAA National Hurricane Center, HURDAT2 Atlantic best track, 1851 to 2025, released February 2026 (primary): hurdat2-1851-2025-02272026.txt. Used 6-hourly maximum sustained winds for 1,198 storms from 1950.