Josh Morgerman

Joshua Morgerman is an American businessman, storm chaser, TV personality, and field correspondent best known for his multitude of tropical cyclone chases. Born in 1970, he developed an interest in meteorology at an early age. After graduating from Harvard University in 1992, he co-founded the digital advertising company Symblaze in 1999. His storm chasing career began in earnest in 2005 with Hurricane Wilma in Florida.
With no formal education in meteorology, all his experience comes from the chases. In all the years he has been chasing, Morgerman has intercepted 87 tropical cyclones, including Category 5 storms Hurricane Dean in 2007, Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Hurricane Patricia in 2015, Typhoon Mangkhut and Hurricane Michael in 2018, Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and Hurricane Melissa in 2025. In total, he has successfully entered the eye of 60 hurricane-force tropical cyclones, with the strongest being Hurricane Melissa. Morgerman has also chased cyclones across 14 different countries or territories, but primarily in the United States and Mexico.

Early life

Josh Morgerman was born in 1970 and grew up in Huntington, New York—part of suburban New York City. Living on Long Island, he developed an interest in meteorology at an early age; his mother attributes part of this interest to him seeing The [Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz] when Morgerman was four. In August 1976, Hurricane Belle struck Long Island as a Category 1 hurricane, causing significant damage in his hometown.
At his father's insistence, Morgerman pursued a liberal arts degree at Harvard University rather than focusing on meteorology. In 1991, while attending Harvard, Morgerman went on his first hurricane chase: Hurricane Bob in Rhode Island.
In 1999, Morgerman co-founded the digital advertising company Symblaze alongside his friend Michael Horton. By 2004, he was living in Prague, Czech Republic, to work with Eastern European clientele.

Personal life

Morgerman has no spouse nor kids, wishing to remain unburdened by family responsibilities to pursue cyclone chases. In his spare time, Morgerman often studies historic tropical cyclones.

iCyclone

Since 1991, Morgerman has been chasing tropical cyclones. His goal is to "core punch" the storms and record atmospheric pressure and document the experience. With no formal education in meteorology, Morgerman's cyclone chasing is a passion project. All of his experience is in the field, though he advertises himself as an "adrenaline junkie". In an interview with The Washington Post in 2012, he stated this to be the primary motivator for chasing.
He often relies on his instincts backed up by years of chasing cyclones. Morgerman leads the iCyclone chase team. Members include his "right-hand guy" Scott Brownfield who coordinates logistics or assists on chases, meteorologists Adam Moyer and Jorge González who provide forecasting information, and Cory Van Pelt who serves as the iCyclone technician. In 2013, iCyclone expanded their chase region to East Asia, teaming up with fellow chasers James Reynolds and Mark Thomas. They ultimately intercepted four typhoons in one month including Typhoon Haiyan which devastated the Philippines. Since 2014, his chasing has been funded by multiple media agencies including CBS, the Weather Channel, and WeatherNation. In 2017, Morgerman conducted his first and so far only Australian chase, intercepting Cyclone Debbie in Queensland.

Data collection and usage

Morgerman collects atmospheric pressure with multiple Kestrel 4500s. The data he has collected has been utilized by the National Hurricane Center in multiple instances to refine landfall intensities. 2011's Hurricane Rina's landfall in the Yucatán Peninsula was adjusted in light of his observations. In conjunction with satellite intensity estimates, his measurement of within the eye of Hurricane Ernesto in 2012 was utilized to upgrade the hurricane's landfall intensity to Category 2.
In 2014, Morgerman's measurement of within Hurricane Odile resulted in the landfall pressure being adjusted to from the operational estimate of. His observation of in 2015's Hurricane Patricia, in conjunction with two nearby automated measurements, assisted in more accurately analyzing the hurricane's strength at landfall. Meteorologists at the NHC concluded an approximate minimum pressure of, yielding estimated winds of ; this made Patricia the strongest Pacific hurricane on record to strike Mexico. The record was later surpassed by Hurricane Otis, which became the first Pacific hurricane on record to make landfall at Category 5 intensity, surpassing Hurricane Patricia accordingly.
Morgerman provided the only observed over-land pressure with Hurricane Willa's Mexican landfall in 2018. He observed a value of, corroborating the NHC's landfall intensity of.
In 2016, Morgerman collaborated with meteorologist Andrew Hagen and Mexican researchers Erik Sereno Trabaldo and Jorge Abelardo González to reanalyze the 1959 Mexico hurricane, then considered to be the strongest landfalling hurricane on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Their analysis determined the storm to have been significantly weaker than originally estimated and resulted in its downgrade from a Category 5 to a Category 4. These revisions were later incorporated into the NHC's Hurricane Database. In 2017, Morgerman co-authored an academic paper published by the American Meteorological Society on the intensity of 2015's Hurricane Patricia. He provided in-situ data describing the structure of the storm and allowing for a more thorough analysis of its landfall.

Tropical cyclone chases

As of November 2025, he has chased 91 cyclones across Australia, East Asia, and North America. Of his successful core penetrations, six were Category 5, 14 were Category 4, and 21 were Category 3.

Year	Date	Storm	Chase location	Landfall intensity	Recorded pressure	Relative position	Team	Ref.
1976		Hurricane Belle	Huntington, New York, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye
1985		Hurricane Gloria	Huntington, New York, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye
1991		Hurricane Bob	Providence, Rhode Island, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
1999		Hurricane Bret	Riviera, Texas, United States	Category 3 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
2005		Hurricane Wilma	Everglades City, Florida, United States	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Tony Brite
2007		Hurricane Dean	Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Category 5 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
2008		Hurricane Dolly	Port Isabel, Texas, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Eyewall	Scott Brownfield
2008		Hurricane Gustav	Berwick/Morgan City, Louisiana, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Scott Brownfield
2008		Hurricane Ike	Texas City, Texas, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2009		Hurricane Jimena	San Carlos, Baja California Sur, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2010		Hurricane Alex	Guadalupe Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Jorge González
2010		Hurricane Karl	Veracruz City, Veracruz, Mexico	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2010		Hurricane Richard	Missed				Solo
2011		Tropical Storm Don	Riviera Beach, Texas, United States	Tropical storm		Inside diffuse center	Cory Van Pelt
2011		Hurricane Irene	Marshallberg, North Carolina, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Keith Nugent
2011		Hurricane Irene	New York City/Island Park, New York, United States	Tropical storm		Inside eye	Keith Nugent
2011		Hurricane Jova	Emiliano Zapata, Jalisco, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Eyewall	Jim Edds
2011		Hurricane Rina	Paamul, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Tropical storm		Inside center	Solo
2012		Hurricane Ernesto	Buenavista, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
2012		Hurricane Isaac	Galliano, Louisiana, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2013		Hurricane Ingrid	Lavaderos, Tamaulipas, Mexico	Tropical storm		Eyewall	Jorge González
2013		Typhoon Fitow	Miyakojima, Okinawa, Japan	Category 2 typhoon		Eyewall	James Reynolds, Mark Thomas
2013		Typhoon Danas	Oku, Okinawa, Japan	Category 4 typhoon		Inside eye	James Reynolds, Mark Thomas
2013		Typhoon Nari	Baler, Aurora, Philippines	Category 3 typhoon		Eyewall	James Reynolds
2013		Typhoon Haiyan	Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines	Category 5 super typhoon		Eyewall	James Reynolds, Mark Thomas
2014		Typhoon Neoguri	Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan			Outside eyewall	James Reynolds, Mark Thomas
2014		Hurricane Odile	Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Steve Crighton
2014		Typhoon Vongfong	Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan	Tropical storm		Inside center	Steve Crighton
2015		Typhoon Soudelor	Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan	Category 3 typhoon		Inside eye	Anthony van Dyck
2015		Typhoon Goni	Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan	Category 3 typhoon		Eyewall	Solo
2015		Typhoon Dujuan	Su'ao, Yilan County, Taiwan	Category 4 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2015		Hurricane Patricia	Emiliano Zapata, Jalisco, Mexico	Category 4 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2016		Typhoon Nepartak	Taitung City, Taitung County, Taiwan	Category 3 typhoon		Eyewall	Solo
2016		Hurricane Earl	Belize City, Belize District, Belize	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2016		Hurricane Hermine	Hampton Springs, Florida, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2016		Hurricane Newton	Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2016		Typhoon Megi	Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan	Category 3 typhoon		Inside eye	Anthony van Dyck
2016		Hurricane Matthew	Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas	Category 4 hurricane		Outside eyewall	Solo
2016		Typhoon Haima	Tuguegarao, Cagayan, Philippines	Category 4 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2017		Cyclone Debbie	Gregory River, [Queensland (Whitsunday Region)\|Gregory River, Queensland], Australia	Category 3 cyclone		Inside eye	Solo
2017		Typhoon Noru	Toi, Miyazaki, Japan	Category 1 typhoon		Eyewall	Solo
2017		Hurricane Franklin	Vega de Alatorre, Veracruz, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2017		Hurricane Harvey	Rockport, Texas, United States	Category 4 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2017		Hurricane Irma	Naples, Florida, United States	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2017		Hurricane Maria	Palmas del Mar, Humacao, Puerto Rico	Category 4 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
2017		Hurricane Nate	Ocean Springs, Mississippi, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2017		Typhoon Lan	Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan	Category 2 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2018		Typhoon Soulik	Kasaricho Oaza Yo, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan	Category 2 typhoon		Eyewall	Caroline Menzies
2018		Typhoon Cimaron	Muroto, Kōchi, Japan	Category 1 typhoon		Inside eye	Caroline Menzies
2018		Typhoon Jebi	Mihama, Wakayama, Japan	Category 2 typhoon		Eyewall	Oli Sloane
2018		Typhoon Mangkhut	Buguey, Cagayan, Philippines	Category 5 super typhoon		Eyewall	Oli Sloane
2018		Hurricane Michael	Callaway, Florida, United States	Category 5 hurricane		Inside eye	Oli Sloane, Matt Delaloye
2018		Hurricane Willa	Palmito del Verde, Sinaloa, Mexico	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno, Caroline Menzies
2018		Typhoon Yutu	Dilasag, Aurora, Philippines	Category 3 typhoon		Eyewall	Caroline Menzies, James Levelle
2019		Hurricane Dorian	Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas	Category 5 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2019		Typhoon Hagibis	Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan	Category 2 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2019		Typhoon Kammuri	Legazpi, Albay, Philippines	Category 4 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Hanna	Port Mansfield, Texas, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Isaias	Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Laura	Sulphur, Louisiana, United States	Category 4 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Sally	Gulf Shores, Alabama, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Delta	Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Delta	Estherwood, Louisiana, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Zeta	Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2020		Hurricane Zeta	Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
2021		Tropical Storm Fred	Apalachicola, Florida, United States	Tropical storm		Inside eye	Solo
2021		Hurricane Grace	Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2021		Hurricane Grace	La Guadalupe/El Encanto, Veracruz, Mexico	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2021		Hurricane Ida	Houma, Louisiana, United States	Category 4 hurricane		Eyewall	Chris Jackson
2021		Hurricane Olaf	San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2021		Hurricane Pamela	Mármol de Salcido, Sinaloa, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2021		Hurricane Rick	Ixtapa, Guerrero, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Eyewall	Nicola Rustichelli
2022		Hurricane Agatha	Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico	Category 2 hurricane		Eyewall	Erik Sereno
2022		Hurricane Fiona	Boca de Yuma, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2022		Hurricane Fiona	Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada	Category 2 post-tropical cyclone		Center	Solo
2022		Hurricane Ian	Punta Gorda, Florida, United States	Category 4 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox
2022		Hurricane Ian	McClellanville/Georgetown/Garden City, South Carolina, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox
2022		Hurricane Orlene	Caimanero, Sinaloa, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2022		Hurricane Roslyn	Santa Cruz, Nayarit, Mexico	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2022		Hurricane Lisa	Belize City, Belize District, Belize	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2022		Hurricane Nicole	Stuart/Jensen Beach/Vero Beach, Florida, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Kevin Conrad
2023		Hurricane Idalia	Perry/Athena, Florida, United States	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox, Parker Sigg
2023		Tropical Storm Ophelia	Atlantic Beach/New Bern, North Carolina, United States	Tropical storm		Inside eye	Solo
2023		Typhoon Koinu	Kenting National Park, Pingtung County, Taiwan	Category 4 typhoon		Inside eye	Anthony van Dyck
2023		Hurricane Lidia	El Habal, Jalisco, Mexico	Category 4 hurricane		Eyewall	Erik Sereno
2024		Hurricane Beryl	Akumal/Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Sereno
2024		Hurricane Beryl	Matagorda, Texas, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox
2024		Hurricane Debby	Steinhatchee, Florida, United States	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2024		Hurricane Ernesto	Paget Parish, Bermuda	Category 1 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2024		Typhoon Shanshan	Makurazaki, Kagoshima, Japan	Category 2 typhoon		Inside eye	James Reynolds
2024		Hurricane Francine	Chauvin/Houma, Louisiana, United States	Category 2 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox
2024		Hurricane Helene	Perry/Hampton Springs, Florida, United States	Category 4 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox
2024		Typhoon Krathon	Cijin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan	Category 1 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2024		Hurricane Milton	Sarasota, Florida, United States	Category 3 hurricane		Inside eye	Erik Fox
2024		Typhoon Kong-rey	Donghe, Taitung, Taiwan	Category 3 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2024		Typhoon Man-yi	Borlongan, Aurora, Philippines	Category 4 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2025		Hurricane Erick	San José Estancia Grande, Oaxaca, Mexico	Category 3 hurricane		Eyewall	Solo
2025		Typhoon Ragasa	Jiangcheng, Yangjiang, China	Category 3 typhoon		Inside eye	Solo
2025		Hurricane Melissa	Crawford, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica	Category 5 hurricane		Inside eye	Solo
2025		Typhoon Fung-wong	Baler, Aurora, Philippines	Category 3 typhoon		Eyewall	Solo

Typhoon Haiyan (2013)

On November 7, 2013, Morgerman flew with fellow chasers James Reynolds and Mark Thomas to Tacloban City in the Philippines to intercept one of the most powerful typhoons in the 21st century: Typhoon Haiyan.
They initially planned to ride out the storm south of the city, where the eye would ultimately make landfall; however, owing to a lack of sturdy shelters they opted to stay in Tacloban itself. They set up at a four-story concrete hotel about above sea level. The chasers came prepared with a week's-worth of food and water. Around 6:45 a.m. local time, the northern eyewall began battering Tacloban and winds rapidly became violent. Morgerman described the winds to have a "tornado-like quality" at times. Windows and doors at the hotel blew out and the roof was torn off. Trees in the region were completely defoliated. Around 7:50 a.m. a powerful storm surge swept through the city, with flood waters reaching a depth of at Morgerman's location.
The fast-rising nature of the water incited panic, residents sheltering at the hotel scrambled to the building's second floor and some broke windows to escape their rooms. Morgerman jumped into the water to help people get from flooding rooms to the stairs. Thomas severely injured his leg in the water while assisting trapped people.
Morgerman described the experience as traumatizing, witnessing the total devastation of Tacloban, bodies strewn across the streets, and "a city spiraling out of control". The crew was stuck in Tacloban for three days, eventually "escaping" on November 10 by which time the Philippine military arrived with relief supplies. Morgerman observed a minimum pressure of in the eyewall of Haiyan. Extrapolating from his second measurement of, he estimated the central pressure to have been below.
On November 5, 2023, Morgerman returned to the Philippines and met with Reynolds and Thomas in Tacloban City a day later to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the cyclone hitting the city. They returned to the hotel that they rode the storm out in, and the hotel celebrated their return with a banner welcoming them back to the city. Morgerman revisited locations that were memorable to him from his time chasing Haiyan and reviewed the city's recovery since then. He also visited a burial site where hundreds of unidentified bodies were buried following the storm. The trio also attended a commemoration ceremony at the Tacloban City Convention Center for the cyclone's victims and met with locals who remembered them from their time in the city, and later attended a lunch banquet with President Bongbong Marcos. They also planted mangroves on an island the San Juanico Strait to "replace the ones lost in Haiyan". Morgerman also visited a family who he had met during the storm and whom he had helped rescue their eldest daughter out of the water.

Hurricane Odile (2014)

In September 2014, Morgerman intercepted Hurricane Odile in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Successfully entering the eye, he recorded a pressure of. Operational assessments of the hurricane's landfall intensity were taken into account for the release of catastrophe bonds funded by Wall Street and the World Bank. The bond system guaranteed a payout of $50 million for a storm with a pressure under ; Odile's operational estimate was. However, his observations "upend the system" and the bonds were rescinded. This prevented vital recovery funds from being provided to the Government of Mexico. The hurricane caused extensive damage throughout Baja California Sur, with insured losses estimated at $1.2 billion. Industry experts later expressed concern over possible conflicts of interest with storm chasers and the catastrophe bonds.

Hurricane Dorian (2019)

On August 31, 2019, Morgerman flew to Marsh Harbour, in the Bahamas to intercept Category 5 Hurricane Dorian. Initially staging his chase in Treasure Cay, he ultimate chose to ride out the storm at Central Abaco Primary School—a designated concrete shelter—in Marsh Harbour. At 11:40 a.m. EDT on September 1, Morgerman reported board to be flying off the structures windows and children being wrapped in blankets for safety. After tweeting this information, contact with Morgerman lost for two days before he was able to contact the Weather Channel.
Around 2:00 p.m. EDT, Hurricane Dorian made landfall over the Abaco Islands with maximum sustained winds of, making it the strongest such storm on record in the Bahamas. The eyewall of Dorian proved exceptionally violent, battering the school with "the force of a thousand sledgehammers". He and others sheltering at the school held furniture against window shutters to prevent them from blowing in. The school was largely destroyed in the first half of the hurricane, forcing Morgerman and those sheltering inside to evacuate to a sturdier government building during the calm of the eye. During the eye, he recorded a pressure of, the lowest in his career. Hundreds of residents, many injured during the storm, sought refuge in the structure for the second half of the hurricane. After living in his car for two days, Morgerman arrived in Nassau by helicopter on September 3 before returning to the United States. He described Dorian as a "nuclear-grade hurricane" and "the most intense cyclone I’ve witnessed in 28 years of chasing".

Hurricane Melissa (2025)

On October 25, 2025, Morgerman flew to Montego Bay, Jamaica to intercept Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, his first chase in the country. Morgerman staged in Mandeville so that he could be central and near coastal locations as at the time it was unclear where Melissa might make landfall. Three days later Morgerman relocated to Crawford in Saint Elizabeth Parish, where he sheltered in a hotel, and he would ride out the storm there with a local family in the hotel's kitchen.
At 10:25 a.m., Morgerman sent his last tweet before landfall at approximately 1:00 p.m. in which wrote: "Frightening power. Whiteout. Roofs teaing off. Gusts like bombs going off. Painful ears. Praise the lord for solid concrete." Morgerman was not heard from for more than 24 hours until 8:03 p.m. the following day when Jamaican parliamentarian Floyd Green posted on Twitter that he had met Morgerman in Black River. An hour later, Morgerman posted to his own Twitter again in which he described how he rode out the storm in the hotel and that he was aware of two deaths in Crawford, one of a man who died from a heart attack in a school next door and a woman who drowned in storm surge on the beach. Morgerman wrote that Melissa was "perhaps the mightiest hurricane" he had witnessed and that through his meeting with Green that he had been inspired to "spread awareness of this catastrophe and get that aid flowing in". In the days after the hurricane Morgerman interviewed various survivors of the storm such as a man who survived by floating on a piece of Styrofoam and clinging to a tree, a woman who was thrown by the wind, and a couple who sheltered under a concrete table.

''Hurricane Man''

In October 2018, UKTV announced a new television docuseries starring Morgerman to be aired on the network channel Dave. The eight-episode show, titled Hurricane Man, chronicles Morgerman's chases in 2018 across the world. A film crew accompanied him on his chases. The series is produced by ScreenDog Productions and distributed by BBC Studios. In addition to following Morgerman's experiences, the show also focuses on victims of the storms, sharing their experiences and how they're coping with its aftermath.
Morgerman acted more carefully during his chases with the film crew present, feeling responsibility for their safety. The show premiered in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2019, and June 12 in Australia on BBC Knowledge. The show debuted on September 15 in the United States on the Science Channel. The series' first two episodes focus on 2018's Category 5 Hurricane Michael and its effects in Panama City, Florida.