The 1980 season

Hurricane Bonnie (1980)

Hurricane Bonnie reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 14, 1980 and August 19, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Bonnie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 14, 1980 to August 19, 1980
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1076 km (669 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.8
Fastest the center moved
48 kt (55 mph)
Identifier
AL061980

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 14, 00:0012.7N 35.5W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 14, 06:0013.5N 36.6W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Aug 14, 12:0014.7N 37.3W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0015.7N 37.5W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0016.7N 37.8W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 06:0017.7N 37.9W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 12:0018.8N 38.1W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 18:0020.4N 38.5W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0022.0N 38.7W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 06:0023.7N 38.9W85 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 12:0024.8N 39.1W85 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 18:0025.8N 39.4W85 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 00:0027.0N 39.7W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 06:0028.0N 40.0W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 12:0029.0N 40.3W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 18:0030.0N 40.5W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 00:0031.1N 40.5W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 06:0032.4N 40.5W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 12:0034.0N 40.5W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 18:0035.9N 40.5W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 00:0038.2N 40.2W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 06:0041.9N 39.8W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 12:0046.5N 38.4W65 kt995 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 18:0051.0N 36.0W45 kt1000 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1980

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.