The 1985 season

Hurricane Bob (1985)

Hurricane Bob reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between July 21, 1985 and July 26, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 1002 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Bob, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1985 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
July 21, 1985 to July 26, 1985
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
1002 mb (29.59 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.8
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
AL021985

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.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Jul 25, 03:00Hilton Head Island, SC, 22 km away32.2N 80.5W65 kt (75 mph)1003 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,683 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 21.86 inches (555 mm).

StationTotalPosition
NP-Everglades City21.86 in (555 mm)25.85N 81.38W
EVERGLADES CITY21.50 in (546 mm)25.85N 81.38W
Royal Ha15.63 in (397 mm)25.99N 81.59W
Copeland14.60 in (371 mm)25.95N 81.36W
Collier14.25 in (362 mm)26.16N 81.66W
NAPLES12.77 in (324 mm)26.17N 81.72W
Naples12.77 in (324 mm)26.17N 81.79W
Gold WP12.40 in (315 mm)26.18N 81.70W
Marco Island12.17 in (309 mm)25.93N 81.70W
IMMOKALEE11.81 in (300 mm)26.39N 81.41W
Kantors11.60 in (295 mm)26.19N 81.69W
Gold WP 211.00 in (279 mm)26.17N 81.70W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 21, 06:0026.0N 85.0W25 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Jul 21, 12:0025.8N 84.9W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jul 21, 18:0025.6N 84.7W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 00:0025.6N 84.4W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 06:0025.8N 84.2W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 12:0026.0N 84.0W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 18:0026.2N 83.8W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 00:0026.5N 83.4W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 06:0026.6N 82.9W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 12:0026.4N 82.3W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 18:0026.4N 81.1W40 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 00:0027.2N 80.3W40 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 06:0028.3N 80.4W50 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 12:0029.4N 80.4W60 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 18:0030.5N 80.5W65 kt1003 mbHurricane
Jul 25, 00:0031.6N 80.5W65 kt1002 mbHurricane
Jul 25, 03:00 landfall32.2N 80.5W65 kt1003 mbHurricane
Jul 25, 06:0032.9N 80.7W55 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 12:0034.8N 80.5W45 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 18:0036.6N 80.1W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jul 26, 00:0038.3N 79.5W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1985

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.