WeatherNext 3 Typhoon Forecast: Tracking Cyclones Hour by Hour
Typhoon season asks a narrow question - where will it be, and when - and hourly forecasts are the right shape for it. This page covers how the model's cadence helps in the western Pacific, the South China Sea and the northern Indian Ocean, what hourly fields add at a landfall window, and where the line sits between a forecast view and an official warning. For the Atlantic side, see the hurricane guide; for the rain mechanics, the precipitation page.
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The short version
Three lines that set expectations for storm season.
Hourly matters at landfall The last day before landfall is when track and timing shift fastest; hourly updates keep the window honest instead of a day-old answer.
The last day before landfall is when track and timing shift fastest; hourly updates keep the window honest instead of a day-old answer.
Three basins, one model The western Pacific, the South China Sea and the northern Indian Ocean are all inside the same global grid - no special product required.
The western Pacific, the South China Sea and the northern Indian Ocean are all inside the same global grid - no special product required.
Warnings are not forecasts National agencies own alerts and evacuations. This is a forecast view; it informs planning, and it does not warn.
National agencies own alerts and evacuations. This is a forecast view; it informs planning, and it does not warn.
What hourly tracking adds in typhoon season
Four things the hourly view does that daily summaries cannot.
Track shifts, update by update
Tropical systems bend and re-intensify on short timescales; the hourly panel shows how each new run evolves instead of one flattened snapshot per day.
Landfall windows, not landfall days
What coastal planning needs is a band of hours: when the strongest wind and heaviest rain are most likely to arrive.
Rain is the compounding risk
Typhoon damage concentrates in water; crossing hourly rain fields with the track shows where the flood story is building.
Intensity in context
Wind and pressure fields on the same hourly rhythm let you watch how fast the model agrees with your agency's bulletins.
How to follow a typhoon with it
The same four-step loop works for any system in any basin.
Start from the bulletins
Open your national agency's current bulletin first and note the storm, its position and its watch areas.
Find it on the hourly view
Locate the system on the map, then step through the hours around the expected approach for your coast.
Watch the window narrow
Check each new update: as the event nears, the hours of concern should tighten rather than jump around.
Cross-check before you act
Keep the agency open beside the forecast. The model adds detail; the agency carries the authority.
Where this matters most
The model is global by design; these are the basins where the hourly view gets used hardest.
Western Pacific
The busiest typhoon basin on Earth, feeding systems toward the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and the Chinese coast.
South China Sea
Vietnam and southern China sit under short-fuse landfall windows where hourly rain and wind fields are the whole point.
Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Cyclones there are rarer but historically deadly; the same hourly routine applies along the coastlines of South Asia.
Everywhere else
The same grid covers every ocean, so the approach carries over to any basin your work or family touches.
Typhoon and cyclone questions
What people ask when a storm is already in the forecast.
Follow the next system hour by hour
When a storm has your coast in its sights, the useful view is the hourly one. Seven-day free trial, cancel anytime. Background: the hurricane guide.
Related guides
The pages that go with this one, chosen by what each one answers.
WeatherNext 3 hurricane forecast
How the model fits hurricane forecasting, with the landfall-window case.
WeatherNext 3 precipitation forecast
How rain is modelled at 0.1 degree, and what the reported gains do and do not mean.
WeatherNext 3 forecast
Reading the hourly data: cadence, variables and how to plan with it.