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 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, 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