SteadyTumbling

A timely data visualization via the Guardian’s Datablog:

What does the world of hurricanes look like? As Hurricane Sandy hits the Eastern seaboard of the US, developer John Nelson has come up with this new view of the world to show how America and Asia have been assailed by these storms as far back as the records go.

The data is from NOAA, which has the ultimate database of extreme weather over the years. You’re looking at the world from the bottom up - ie looking down on Antarctica. It’s a novel way to see a globe normally dominated by the western hemisphere. The United States is at the top right of the map, Asia is on the left and Africa at the bottom. The brighter the dots, the more intense the storm.

You can see an enormous version of it here.

Here’s what it looks like animated since 1978, the year the most detailed data started:

Says Nelson:

Detection has skyrocketed since satellite technology but mostly since we started logging storms in the eastern hemisphere. Also the proportionality of storm severity looks to be getting more consistent year to year with the benefit of more data

Nelson, who works at data visualisation company IDV Solutions has a track record visualising natural phenomena: check out his map of the world’s earthquakes since 1898 and a map of the rise in US wildfires since 2001.

Who made this infographic? John Nelson
Where can I find it? UX Blog

Download the data

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet from NOAA