Tropical storms form over warm tropical oceans, mainly between about 5° and 30° north and south of the Equator where the sea is hot enough to fuel them.

Quick Scoop: Where do tropical storms form?

Tropical storms (also called hurricanes, cyclones or typhoons depending on region) need a large area of very warm ocean water, usually at least about 26–27 °C, plus moist air and some distance from the Equator so the Earth’s spin can make them rotate. Because of this, they cluster in specific “belts” over the world’s tropical oceans, not randomly across the globe.

Main formation zones

  • Warm tropical oceans between roughly 5° and 30° latitude north and south of the Equator.
  • Most storms form within about 20° of the Equator, where seas are especially warm and moist.
  • They almost never form right on the Equator because the Coriolis effect (the spin needed to twist the storm) is too weak there.

Key ocean basins

  • Western Pacific Ocean – Produces the largest number of tropical storms and the most powerful “super typhoons.”
  • North Atlantic Ocean – Includes storms that hit the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and eastern USA coasts (called hurricanes).
  • Indian Ocean – Generates storms affecting India, Bangladesh, East Africa, and northern Australia (often called cyclones).
  • Eastern & Central Pacific – Storms that can impact Mexico, Central America and sometimes move toward Hawaii.

Certain cooler ocean regions, like off western South America and southwest Africa, almost never get tropical storms because cold currents keep sea- surface temperatures too low.

TL;DR: Tropical storms form over very warm tropical oceans, mostly 5°–30° north and south of the Equator, in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean basins where sea temperatures are hot enough to power them.
[3][7][1] Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.