Hurricane Intelligence Florida
Hurricane Intelligence Florida: Florida impacts and ENSO, 1851 to present. A JnGmedia property.

Fingerprint matching | 128 storms | 1851-2025

Analog Finder

Two ways in: compare a real storm's track against history, or describe a hypothetical scenario. Analogs are context, never forecasts.

Compare a Real Storm's Track

Pick a storm to see which historical storms score highest for similarity of path.

How matches are scored

Matches are scored two genuinely different ways: how close the tracks actually ran to each other near Florida, and how each storm handled the Florida Straits/Cuba shelf on approach — a narrow, shallow area that tends to interrupt intensification and produce more erratic short-term heading changes than the deep open Gulf or Atlantic. Both scores show separately on every card, so the ranking is never a black box.

clear

Comparing to

Betsy (1965)

peak 4 · FL impact 3.

El Nino 3FL impact Major Hurricane (Cat 3+) Rapid Intensification
Formed
1965-08-27
Dissipated
1965-09-13
Peak wind
120 kt
Lifetime category
4
Min pressure
942 mb (lifetime)
Florida date
1965-09-08
Approach
atlantic
FL regions
SE3 SW3
Center landfall
yes (1)
ENSO (ASO ONI)
+1.85
Peak surge (FL)
none exists for this era

Surge: no curated record, and none is likely to exist. Reliable landfall-zone surge observation generally predates neither the modern gauge network nor NHC Tropical Cyclone Reports for storms of this era; surge comparisons on this site skew modern as a result (disclosed on the methodology page).

Top 6 Top 20 All matches
Every storm since 1851 is included -- tap for how older matches are weighted

Storms before 1968 (radar/satellite) rank lower by a continuous confidence discount, not a hard cutoff: 1944-1967 (aircraft reconnaissance) counts at 75% of its raw match strength, 1911-1943 (station data + ship reports) at 50%, and pre-1911 (ship reports and land stations only) at 30% -- illustrative weights, not a published figure, matching the same four eras disclosed on the Zone Lab. A strong enough old match can still surface; look for "era confidence: N%" in that card's reasons.

Ranked by near-Florida path first (how close the two tracks actually ran to each other once near the state), then by Straits/Cuba approach (did each handle the shallow shelf the same way on the way in), then by trait match. These answer genuinely different questions -- a storm can wobble identically on approach and still land 300 miles apart, or vice versa -- so they are shown separately, never blended into one number.

Showing 20 matches.

  • Betsy (1965)
  • Andrew (1992)
  • Florida Straits corridor

Track colors below are always: teal = Betsy, orange = the comparison storm named in each card -- shaded darker where that storm was stronger at that point, lighter where it was weaker, so intensity along the path reads without losing track of which line is which. On desktop these show as compact thumbnails, three per row; being vector maps they stay crisp at any size. Click a storm's name to open its own full-size record and track.

View Betsy and these matches in the Zone Lab tool

View these storms on the Track Map

Andrew (1992) peak 5 · FL impact 5 near-Florida path 1.7 of 2 · Straits approach 1.4 of 2 · trait match 5 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, similar Florida Straits wobble, similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida
AL031891 (1891) peak 3 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.6 of 2 · Straits approach 1.1 of 2 · trait match -0.7 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, similar Florida Straits wobble, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911)
AL071935 (1935) peak 2 · FL impact 2 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.5 of 2 · Straits approach 1 of 2 · trait match -0.3 of 8 atlantic approach, similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 50% (1911-1943)
Key West (1861) peak 1 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.5 of 2 · Straits approach 1 of 2 · trait match -0.6 of 8 adjacent month, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, similar Florida Straits wobble, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911)
AL021919 (1919) peak 4 · FL impact 4 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.5 of 2 · Straits approach 0.5 of 2 · trait match 1.5 of 8 same month, same peak category, rapid intensifier, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 50% (1911-1943)
Great Mobile (1852) peak 3 · FL impact 2 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.5 of 2 · Straits approach 1.2 of 2 · trait match -1.3 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, similar Florida Straits wobble, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911)
Ivan (2004) peak 5 · FL impact 3 near-Florida path 1.5 of 2 · Straits approach 0 of 2 · trait match 5 of 8 same month, category within 1, same ENSO phase, rapid intensifier, ran very close to the same path across Florida
Katrina (2005) peak 5 · FL impact 1 near-Florida path 1.4 of 2 · Straits approach 0.5 of 2 · trait match 5 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, somewhat similar Straits wobble, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida
Inez (1966) peak 5 · FL impact 2 near-Florida path 1.4 of 2 · Straits approach 0 of 2 · trait match 3.4 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 75% (1944-1967)
AL101924 (1924) peak 5 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.3 of 2 · Straits approach 0.7 of 2 · trait match 0.5 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, rapid intensifier, similar Florida Straits wobble, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 50% (1911-1943)
AL031888 (1888) peak 3 · FL impact 3 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.3 of 2 · Straits approach 0.3 of 2 · trait match 0.4 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911)
AL031932 (1932) peak 1 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.3 of 2 · Straits approach 0.8 of 2 · trait match 0.5 of 8 adjacent month, atlantic approach, similar Florida Straits wobble, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 50% (1911-1943)
Twin Key West (I) (1870) peak 3 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.2 of 2 · Straits approach 0 of 2 · trait match 0.7 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911)
Floyd (1987) peak 1 · FL impact 1 near-Florida path 1.2 of 2 · Straits approach 0.6 of 2 · trait match 2 of 8 adjacent month, same ENSO phase, somewhat similar Straits wobble, ran very close to the same path across Florida
AL041947 (1947) peak 4 · FL impact 4 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.2 of 2 · Straits approach 0 of 2 · trait match 5 of 8 same month, same peak category, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, took a broadly similar path near Florida, era confidence: 75% (1944-1967)
Wilma (2005) peak 5 · FL impact 3 near-Florida path 1.2 of 2 · Straits approach 0.5 of 2 · trait match 3 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, rapid intensifier, somewhat similar Straits wobble, took a broadly similar path near Florida
AL021906 (1906) peak 2 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.2 of 2 · Straits approach 0.8 of 2 · trait match -0.7 of 8 atlantic approach, similar Straits approach angle, took a broadly similar path near Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911)
Isbell (1964) peak 3 · FL impact 2 near-Florida path 1.1 of 2 · Straits approach 0.1 of 2 · trait match 1.9 of 8 adjacent month, category within 1, rapid intensifier, took a broadly similar path near Florida, era confidence: 75% (1944-1967)
AL051933 (1933) peak 1 · FL impact 1 pre-1950 · reconstructed track near-Florida path 1.1 of 2 · Straits approach 0 of 2 · trait match 1 of 8 atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, took a broadly similar path near Florida, era confidence: 50% (1911-1943)
Sally (2020) peak 2 · FL impact 2 near-Florida path 1.1 of 2 · Straits approach 0.9 of 2 · trait match 4 of 8 same month, atlantic approach, similar Straits approach angle, took a broadly similar path near Florida

View Betsy and these matches in the Zone Lab tool

View these storms on the Track Map

Show the LEAST similar tracks instead

The other direction: storms whose tracks and traits share the least with Betsy, for calibration.

5Andrew 1992 score 8.1 | adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, rapid intensifier, similar Florida Straits wobble, similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida 3AL031891 1891 score 2 | adjacent month, category within 1, atlantic approach, similar Florida Straits wobble, somewhat similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 30% (pre-1911) 2AL071935 1935 score 2.3 | atlantic approach, similar Straits approach angle, ran very close to the same path across Florida, era confidence: 50% (1911-1943)

Describe a Hypothetical Scenario

Pick the traits you're curious about, and we'll find historical storms that match.

How matches are scored

Scoring weighs month (2), peak category (2), approach side (2), and ENSO phase (1), plus an optional point for rapid intensifiers; each match explains exactly which traits it shares.

Pick at least one trait above to search. Example scenario: October, Category 4, Gulf approach, Neutral phase; three of the last five Gulf-side October majors will look uncomfortably familiar.

Wondering about a storm active right now? The home page shows the latest NHC observations with their historical analogs.

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