Hurricane Elena (1985)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

August 28, 1985 to September 4, 1985

Peak strength

Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)

Lowest pressure

953 mb (28.14 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

15.8

Fastest the center moved

21 kt (24 mph)

Identifier

AL051985

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

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,308 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 15.67 inches (398 mm).

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

• Tropical Storm AnaNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Storm60 kt · 996 mb
• Hurricane BobNorth Atlantic · 1985Cat 165 kt · 1002 mb
• Hurricane ClaudetteNorth Atlantic · 1985Cat 175 kt · 980 mb
• Hurricane DannyNorth Atlantic · 1985Cat 180 kt · 987 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Depression30 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Depression30 kt
• Tropical Storm FabianNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Storm55 kt · 994 mb
• Hurricane GloriaNorth Atlantic · 1985Cat 4125 kt · 920 mb
• Tropical Storm HenriNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Storm50 kt · 996 mb
• Tropical Storm IsabelNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Storm60 kt · 997 mb
• Hurricane JuanNorth Atlantic · 1985Cat 175 kt · 971 mb
• Hurricane KateNorth Atlantic · 1985Cat 3105 kt · 954 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1985Tropical Depression30 kt

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.

• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Elena