Enhanced Historical Cyclone Sample

This page provides a complete sample response for an enhanced historical cyclone from the IBTrACS backfill pipeline. Unlike active cyclones tracked through the V2 API, historical cyclones are ingested from NOAA's International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) and include the full observed track with wind radii data at each point.

Enhanced historical cyclones include two additional data blocks not present in standard hazard responses: cycloneAssessment (storm summary statistics) and cycloneDetails (complete track with meteorological observations at each point).

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Cyclone Assessment

The cycloneAssessment block provides summary statistics for the entire storm lifecycle. This is computed from the full IBTrACS best-track record after the storm has concluded.

Property
Type
Description

ibtracs_sid

string

IBTrACS storm identifier (season + sequence)

storm_name

string

Official storm name (uppercase)

season

integer

Year of the cyclone season

basin

string

Basin code (e.g., SI, WP, NA, EP, SP)

basin_name

string

Human-readable basin name

max_wind_kts

number

Peak sustained wind speed in knots

max_wind_kmh

integer

Peak sustained wind speed in km/h

min_pressure_mb

number

Minimum central pressure in millibars

max_category

integer

Peak Saffir-Simpson category (0-5)

max_category_name

string

Human-readable category label

duration_hours

integer

Total storm duration in hours

track_points_count

integer

Number of track observations

track_length_km

integer

Total track distance in kilometers

landfalls

integer

Number of landfall events

hours_at_hurricane_force

integer

Hours with winds at or above 64 kt

hours_at_major_hurricane

integer

Hours with winds at or above 96 kt (Category 3+)

source

string

IBTrACS dataset version

Cyclone Details

The cycloneDetails block contains the complete storm track as an array of chronological observation points. Each point includes position, intensity, wind structure, and proximity-to-land data.

Track Point Fields

Property
Type
Description

time

string

Observation timestamp (UTC, YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)

lat

number

Latitude in decimal degrees (negative = south)

lon

number

Longitude in decimal degrees

wind_kts

number or null

Maximum sustained wind speed in knots

pressure_mb

number or null

Central pressure in millibars

wind_radii

object

Wind radii by threshold (see below)

nature

string

Storm nature code

usa_status

string

USA agency classification code

dist2land_km

number

Distance to nearest land in kilometers

landfall_km

number or null

Distance to landfall point in kilometers

Wind Radii Structure

The wind_radii object is keyed by wind speed threshold in knots (34, 50, or 64). Each threshold contains the maximum radial extent of that wind speed in each quadrant, measured in nautical miles.

  • 34 kt -- Tropical storm force winds

  • 50 kt -- Strong tropical storm / damaging winds

  • 64 kt -- Hurricane / typhoon force winds

Wind radii are only present when the storm reaches the corresponding intensity threshold. Early track points (disturbances, depressions) will have an empty wind_radii object.

Nature Codes

Code
Description

DS

Disturbance

TS

Tropical Storm (includes hurricane/typhoon intensity)

ET

Extratropical Transition

SS

Subtropical Storm

NR

Not Reported

USA Status Codes

Code
Description

DB

Disturbance

TD

Tropical Depression

TS

Tropical Storm

TY

Typhoon

HU

Hurricane

ST

Super Typhoon

EX

Extratropical

Legacy Hazard Fields

The top-level hazard object uses the legacy DAE schema. Key fields include:

Property
Type
Description

hazard_ID

integer

Internal hazard identifier

uuid

string

Unique hazard identifier

hazard_Name

string

Display name of the hazard

type_ID

string

Hazard type (e.g., CYCLONE)

category_ID

string

Hazard category (e.g., EVENT)

severity_ID

string

Severity level (e.g., WATCH, WARNING)

status

string

Hazard status (A = active, E = expired)

create_Date

string

Creation timestamp (epoch milliseconds as string)

start_Date

string

Storm start timestamp (epoch milliseconds)

end_Date

string

Storm end timestamp (epoch milliseconds)

latitude / longitude

number

Reference coordinates

source

string

Data source description

creator

string

Pipeline or user that created the record

tier

string

Access tier (Enterprise, Premium, etc.)

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The comment_Text field contains the IBTrACS storm identifier (e.g., IBTrACS-2025329N10124), which can be used to cross-reference with the original IBTrACS dataset.

Sample Response

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In this sample, the activeGeography WKT polygon has been truncated for brevity. In actual responses, this contains the full polygon geometry. The cycloneDetails.track array has been reduced to four representative points (storm origin, tropical storm onset, peak intensity, and extratropical transition) -- the full track contains 169 points at roughly 3-hour intervals.

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