Hurricane Kay (1980)

Basin

Eastern Pacific

Dates

September 16, 1980 to September 30, 1980

Peak strength

Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)

Landfall

No; closest approach 358 km (222 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

26.2

Fastest the center moved

18 kt (21 mph)

Identifier

EP111980

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.

• Hurricane AgathaEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 3100 kt
• Tropical Storm BlasEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm50 kt
• Hurricane CeliaEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 165 kt
• Tropical Storm DarbyEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm45 kt
• Tropical Storm EstelleEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm40 kt
• Tropical Storm FrankEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm45 kt
• Hurricane GeorgetteEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 165 kt
• Hurricane HowardEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 290 kt
• Hurricane IsisEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 285 kt
• Hurricane JavierEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 3100 kt
• Tropical Storm LesterEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm35 kt
• Tropical Storm MadelineEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm45 kt
• Tropical Storm NewtonEastern Pacific · 1980Tropical Storm35 kt
• Hurricane DinahEastern Pacific · 1980Cat 3100 kt · 950 mb

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.

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.