Greatest distance covered by a tropical cyclone

Hurricane/Typhoon John (aka Tropical Cyclone John) formed on 11 August 1994 in the eastern Pacific Ocean and lasted for 29.75 days, in that time heading west and covering a total distance of 13,159 km ±10 km (8,177 mi; 7,105 nautical mi) as a tropical storm or higher-category weather event, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

When originally assessed, Tropical Cyclone John was believed to have lasted for 31 days and covered an even greater distance of 13,280 km (8,250 mi; 7,171 nautical mi), however this was reassessed and slightly downgraded in a paper published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society on 2 July 2024.

As part of that same study, a new storm – Tropical Cyclone Freddy – claimed the record of longest-lasting tropical storm, traversing the Indian Ocean from off north-west Australia to the south-eastern African countries of Mozambique and Malawi over the course of 36 days between 4 February and 14 March 2023. Freddy is the second-farthest-travelled tropical storm on record, according to the WMO, only surpassed by John, with a calculated distance covered of 12,785 km ±10 km (7,945 mi; 6,905 nautical mi).