Tropical cyclones in 1998

Katrina in the Australian basin, and cyclones Ron and Susan in the South Pacific basin are simultaneously active on January 5. Meanwhile on the North Atlantic basin, 4 hurricanes; Georges (west), Karl (west-northwest of Ivan), Jeanne (south of Karl), and Ivan (far right) were active on September 26.

During 1998, tropical cyclones formed within seven different tropical cyclone basins, located within various parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. A total of 125 tropical cyclones formed, with 72 of them being named by various weather agencies when they attained maximum sustained winds of 35 knots (65 km/h, 40 mph). The strongest tropical cyclones were Zeb, Ron and Susan which peaked with a pressure of 900 hPa (26.58 inHg). Hurricane Mitch of late October was the deadliest tropical cyclone, killing 11,000 people as it catastrophically affected Central America, and Mexico as a Category 5 major hurricane. Meanwhile, Georges became the costliest, with the damages amounting to $9.37 billion, which also became the costliest in the history of the Dominican Republic and the country of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Throughout the year, four Category 5 tropical cyclones formed. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 1998 (seven basins combined), as calculated by Colorado State University was 773.1 units.