No active hurricanes threatening Melbourne right now

Could the next one hit soon? 235 hurricanes have impacted the Melbourne area since 1852 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

235
Hurricanes affecting Melbourne area
2025
Most recent
160 kt
Strongest peak winds
5 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Located on the Atlantic coast of Florida's Space Coast with low-lying barrier islands and a shallow nearshore shelf, Melbourne is most threatened by storm surge and powerful onshore winds — recent strikes like Hurricane Dorian (2019) and nearby impacts from Ian and Nicole underscore the area's exposure to major hurricanes.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Melbourne area — including Indialantic, Palm Bay, Malabar, Melbourne Beach, Satellite Beach, Grant, Patrick Afb, Sebastian. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Melbourne area?

Distribution of 235 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Melbourne, by month of closest approach.

J
1 F
M
A
8 M
25 J
21 J
47 A
61 S
61 O
10 N
1 D

Recent notable storms affecting the Melbourne area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 MILTON Cat 5 155 kt 42 mi
2022 IAN Cat 5 140 kt 23 mi
2022 NICOLE Cat 1 65 kt 38 mi
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 177 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 57 mi
2020 ETA Cat 4 130 kt 159 mi
2020 SALLY Cat 2 95 kt 173 mi
2019 DORIAN Cat 5 160 kt 100 mi
2019 HUMBERTO Cat 3 110 kt 169 mi
2017 IRMA Cat 5 155 kt 97 mi
2016 MATTHEW Cat 5 145 kt 61 mi
2014 ARTHUR Cat 2 85 kt 85 mi
2008 HANNA Cat 1 75 kt 130 mi
2007 ANDREA Cat 1 65 kt 74 mi
2006 ERNESTO Cat 1 65 kt 5 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of Melbourne. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to Melbourne

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
2008 FAY TS 60 kt 5 mi Aug 20, 2008
2006 ERNESTO Cat 1 65 kt 5 mi Aug 31, 2006
2016 JULIA TS 45 kt 7 mi Sep 13, 2016
1979 DAVID Cat 5 150 kt 9 mi Sep 04, 1979
1981 UNNAMED TD 30 kt 9 mi Jul 03, 1981
1880 UNNAMED Cat 2 90 kt 9 mi Aug 29, 1880
1968 DOLLY Cat 1 75 kt 9 mi Aug 10, 1968
1956 UNNAMED TS 55 kt 10 mi Oct 16, 1956
1968 ABBY Cat 1 65 kt 12 mi Jun 05, 1968
1983 BARRY Cat 1 70 kt 12 mi Aug 25, 1983
Showing the 10 closest of 235 total storms within 150 mi of Melbourne since 1852.

If a hurricane threatens Melbourne

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Brevard County and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for Melbourne

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Melbourne (28.0691°N, 80.6200°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Melbourne — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.