This map is part of a larger project looking at sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and its impact on hurricane formation. This map focuses on the strength and direction of tropical cyclone tracks and how climate change has influenced these relationships over time. The data is from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) which is a NOAA run project. This project merges recent and historical tropical cyclone data from multiple agencies to create the most complete global collection of tropical cyclones available. The tracks are differentiated by their category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, from 1 to 5, and complete tracks are shown.