The 1979 season

Hurricane Bob (1979)

Hurricane Bob reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between July 9, 1979 and July 16, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 986 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Bob, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1979 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
July 9, 1979 to July 16, 1979
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
986 mb (29.12 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.1
Fastest the center moved
20 kt (23 mph)
Identifier
AL041979

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,462 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 7.16 inches (182 mm).

StationTotalPosition
SPRINGVILLE FIRE TOWER7.16 in (182 mm)30.43N 90.65W
PASCAGOULA 3 NE6.64 in (169 mm)30.40N 88.48W
PLAQUEMINE 2 N6.00 in (152 mm)30.32N 91.23W
JACKSON INTERNATIONAL AP5.91 in (150 mm)32.32N 90.08W
BLOOMINGTON INDIANA UNIV5.72 in (145 mm)39.17N 86.52W
EDWARDSPORT POWER PLANT5.72 in (145 mm)38.80N 87.23W
KOSCIUSKO5.62 in (143 mm)33.07N 89.58W
WINCHESTER AIRPORT 3E5.58 in (142 mm)40.17N 84.92W
CRANE NSA5.48 in (139 mm)38.87N 86.83W
SPENCER5.38 in (137 mm)39.28N 86.77W
NEW WHITELAND5.36 in (136 mm)39.55N 86.10W
EUPORA 2 E5.33 in (135 mm)33.57N 89.23W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 9, 12:0022.0N 96.0W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Jul 9, 18:0022.5N 95.3W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jul 10, 00:0023.0N 94.6W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Jul 10, 06:0023.5N 93.8W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 12:0024.0N 93.0W50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 18:0025.0N 92.3W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 00:0026.2N 91.6W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Jul 11, 06:0027.8N 91.1W65 kt991 mbHurricane
Jul 11, 12:0029.1N 90.6W65 kt986 mbHurricane
Jul 11, 18:0031.0N 90.2W40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 00:0032.5N 89.9W30 kt998 mbTropical depression
Jul 12, 06:0034.0N 89.7W25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Jul 12, 12:0035.9N 89.1W25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jul 12, 18:0037.2N 87.8W25 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jul 13, 00:0038.5N 86.5W25 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jul 13, 06:0038.8N 85.3W25 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jul 13, 12:0039.0N 84.0W25 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Jul 13, 18:0039.0N 82.7W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jul 14, 00:0039.0N 81.3W20 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jul 14, 06:0038.7N 80.1W20 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jul 14, 12:0038.3N 78.8W20 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jul 14, 18:0037.9N 77.7W20 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 00:0037.5N 76.5W20 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 06:0036.8N 76.3W20 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 12:0036.0N 76.0W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 18:0035.0N 76.3W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Jul 16, 00:0034.0N 76.5W20 kt1013 mbTropical depression
Jul 16, 06:0033.5N 75.8W20 kt1013 mbTropical depression
Jul 16, 12:0033.0N 75.0W20 kt1014 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1979

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.