Tropical Storm Elena (1979)
Tropical Storm Elena peaked at 35 kt in the North Atlantic between August 30, 1979 and September 2, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 1004 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Elena, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- August 30, 1979 to September 2, 1979
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 35 kt (40 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 1004 mb (29.65 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 1.0
- Fastest the center moved
- 11 kt (13 mph)
- Identifier
- AL121979
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 695 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 10.28 inches (261 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| PALACIOS MUNICIPAL AP | 10.28 in (261 mm) | 28.72N 96.25W |
| POINT COMFORT | 6.75 in (171 mm) | 28.65N 96.55W |
| ARANSAS WILDLIFE REFUGE | 5.84 in (148 mm) | 28.30N 96.80W |
| ALVIN | 5.36 in (136 mm) | 29.37N 95.23W |
| PORT LAVACA 2 | 5.25 in (133 mm) | 28.62N 96.63W |
| HOUSTON WB CITY | 5.13 in (130 mm) | 29.77N 95.37W |
| HACKBERRY 8 SSW | 5.13 in (130 mm) | 29.88N 93.40W |
| LIBERTY | 4.78 in (121 mm) | 30.07N 94.80W |
| ZAPATA 1 S | 4.70 in (119 mm) | 26.87N 99.25W |
| FREEPORT 2 NW | 4.35 in (110 mm) | 28.98N 95.38W |
| BEAUMONT RESEARCH CTR | 4.08 in (104 mm) | 30.07N 94.28W |
| HOUSTON SAN JACINTO DAM | 3.89 in (99 mm) | 29.92N 95.15W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 00:00 | 25.5N 89.1W | 25 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 30, 06:00 | 26.0N 89.9W | 25 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 30, 12:00 | 26.4N 90.7W | 30 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 30, 18:00 | 26.8N 91.8W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 31, 00:00 | 26.5N 93.0W | 35 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 31, 06:00 | 26.8N 93.8W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 31, 12:00 | 27.0N 94.2W | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 31, 18:00 | 27.3N 94.7W | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 1, 00:00 | 27.6N 95.1W | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 1, 06:00 | 27.9N 95.5W | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 1, 12:00 | 28.5N 95.8W | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 1, 18:00 | 29.0N 95.8W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 2, 00:00 | 29.6N 95.8W | 25 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Tropical Storm AnaNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Hurricane BobNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Tropical Storm ClaudetteNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Hurricane DavidNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Hurricane FredericNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Hurricane GloriaNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Hurricane HenriNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 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.