The 1985 season

Hurricane Danny (1985)

Hurricane Danny reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between August 12, 1985 and August 20, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 987 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Danny, 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
August 12, 1985 to August 20, 1985
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
987 mb (29.15 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.5
Fastest the center moved
14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier
AL041985

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
Aug 15, 16:30Gueydan, LA, 51 km away29.6N 92.7W80 kt (92 mph)987 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 1,753 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 9.80 inches (249 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GAFFNEY 6 E9.80 in (249 mm)35.10N 81.58W
MEADOWS OF DAN 5 SW9.43 in (240 mm)36.67N 80.45W
KENTWOOD8.91 in (226 mm)30.95N 90.52W
ASSATEAGUE8.89 in (226 mm)38.07N 75.22W
STUART8.78 in (223 mm)36.63N 80.25W
WOOLWINE 4 S8.60 in (218 mm)36.78N 80.27W
WIGGINS8.48 in (215 mm)30.87N 89.13W
BAYOU SORREL LOCK8.18 in (208 mm)30.13N 91.32W
CROZIER8.18 in (208 mm)37.67N 77.88W
PRINCESS ANNE8.10 in (206 mm)38.22N 75.68W
COPPER HILL7.97 in (202 mm)37.08N 80.15W
HOPEWELL7.86 in (200 mm)37.30N 77.28W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 12, 00:0018.5N 80.7W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 12, 06:0019.2N 81.4W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 12, 12:0019.9N 82.1W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 12, 18:0020.5N 82.9W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 13, 00:0021.1N 83.7W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 13, 06:0021.7N 84.6W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 13, 12:0022.3N 85.6W30 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 13, 18:0023.0N 86.7W30 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 14, 00:0023.7N 87.8W35 kt1010 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0024.4N 88.8W45 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0025.1N 89.8W50 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0025.9N 90.7W60 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0026.8N 91.5W70 kt997 mbHurricane
Aug 15, 06:0027.8N 92.2W75 kt995 mbHurricane
Aug 15, 12:0028.9N 92.6W80 kt988 mbHurricane
Aug 15, 16:30 landfall29.6N 92.7W80 kt987 mbHurricane
Aug 15, 18:0030.0N 92.7W70 kt988 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 00:0031.0N 92.4W50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0032.0N 92.0W40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0032.9N 91.4W30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Aug 16, 18:0033.7N 90.4W30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Aug 17, 00:0034.3N 89.2W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Aug 17, 06:0034.7N 87.8W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 17, 12:0035.0N 86.3W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Aug 17, 18:0035.3N 84.8W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 18, 00:0035.6N 83.4W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 18, 06:0035.8N 82.0W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 18, 12:0036.0N 80.6W25 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Aug 18, 18:0036.3N 79.2W25 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Aug 19, 00:0036.7N 77.9W25 kt1012 mbExtratropical
Aug 19, 06:0037.1N 76.6W25 kt1012 mbExtratropical
Aug 19, 12:0037.5N 75.3W25 kt1012 mbExtratropical
Aug 19, 18:0038.0N 74.0W25 kt1013 mbExtratropical
Aug 20, 00:0038.5N 72.7W20 kt1013 mbExtratropical
Aug 20, 06:0039.1N 71.5W20 kt1014 mbExtratropical
Aug 20, 12:0039.7N 70.4W20 kt1014 mbExtratropical
Aug 20, 18:0040.4N 69.4W20 kt1014 mbExtratropical

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.