Longest-lasting tropical cyclone

As ratified by the World Meteorological Organization and published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society on 2 July 2024, the longest-lasting tropical storm is Tropical Cyclone Freddy, with a duration of 36 days between 4 February and 14 March 2023. It traversed the Indian Ocean, starting off north-western Australia and heading west, hitting southern Madagascar, before going on to make landfall on the south-eastern African country of Mozambique, before returning to the west coast of Madagascar then circling back to the mainland, finally ending over Malawi, neighbouring Mozambique.

In total, meteorologists estimate that TC Freddy covered a distance of 12,785 km ± 10 km (7,945 mi; 6,905 nautical mi) at the level of a tropical storm or above, which places it in second place for the title of farthest travelled tropical storm (see below).

In Mozambique alone, an estimated 1.3 million people were affected by the storm, with a death toll of at least 180. In Malawi, more than 1,200 people were declared either killed or missing.

Freddy breaks a record that had stood for 30 years held by Tropical Cyclone John, which travelled through the eastern Pacific Ocean in August/September 1994 with a long-assumed span of 31 days. However, as part of the research into Freddy's duration, this was reassessed to be slightly shorter than previously thought: 29.75 days. TC John does, however, retain the record for greatest distance covered by a tropical storm: 13,159 km ± 10 km (8,177 mi; 7,105 nautical mi), about 375 km (233 mi) farther than Freddy.