The 1985 season

Hurricane Gloria (1985)

Hurricane Gloria reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 16, 1985 and October 2, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 920 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Gloria, 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
September 16, 1985 to October 2, 1985
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 mb (27.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.2
Fastest the center moved
42 kt (48 mph)
Identifier
AL091985

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.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 27, 05:30Hatteras, NC, 8 km away35.2N 75.6W90 kt (104 mph)942 mb
Sep 27, 16:00Babylon, NY, 11 km away40.6N 73.3W75 kt (86 mph)961 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 1,104 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 9.70 inches (246 mm).

StationTotalPosition
EDENTON9.70 in (246 mm)36.07N 76.62W
VALLEY FORGE N.H.P.9.17 in (233 mm)40.10N 75.42W
LONG POND POCONO LAKE9.11 in (231 mm)41.12N 75.55W
HOPEWELL MORGANTOWN8.97 in (228 mm)40.17N 75.88W
KRESGEVILLE 2 W8.96 in (228 mm)40.90N 75.53W
HOLLAND 1 E8.60 in (218 mm)36.68N 76.77W
UNADILLA 2 N8.04 in (204 mm)42.35N 75.32W
WARSAW 2 NW7.86 in (200 mm)37.98N 76.78W
ALLENTOWN LEHIGH VALLEY INTL7.85 in (199 mm)40.65N 75.45W
MOREHEAD CITY 2 WNW7.83 in (199 mm)34.73N 76.73W
GOULDSBORO7.83 in (199 mm)41.25N 75.45W
WILLIAMSBURG 2 N7.82 in (199 mm)37.30N 76.70W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 16, 12:0013.3N 23.6W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 16, 18:0013.8N 24.8W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 17, 00:0014.1N 25.9W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 17, 06:0014.3N 27.1W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 17, 12:0014.6N 28.3W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0014.7N 29.6W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0014.9N 31.7W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0015.0N 33.8W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0015.1N 35.9W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0015.4N 38.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 19, 00:0015.8N 39.5W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 19, 06:0016.2N 40.9W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 19, 12:0016.6N 42.2W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 19, 18:0017.0N 43.8W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 20, 00:0017.2N 45.1W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0017.4N 46.7W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0017.5N 48.1W45 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0017.6N 49.8W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0017.7N 51.2W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0017.7N 52.8W55 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0017.7N 54.2W60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0017.7N 55.3W65 kt1000 mbHurricane
Sep 22, 00:0017.8N 56.3W65 kt1000 mbHurricane
Sep 22, 06:0017.8N 57.1W70 kt996 mbHurricane
Sep 22, 12:0017.8N 58.2W70 kt992 mbHurricane
Sep 22, 18:0018.4N 59.0W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 23, 00:0019.0N 60.2W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 23, 06:0019.7N 61.5W65 kt989 mbHurricane
Sep 23, 12:0020.4N 62.9W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 23, 18:0021.0N 64.2W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 00:0021.5N 65.5W95 kt956 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 06:0021.9N 66.8W100 kt952 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 12:0022.5N 67.9W100 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 18:0023.2N 69.0W105 kt935 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 00:0024.2N 70.0W120 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 06:0025.1N 70.9W125 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 12:0026.1N 72.0W115 kt926 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 18:0026.9N 73.0W95 kt933 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 00:0027.8N 74.0W85 kt940 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 06:0028.9N 75.0W80 kt944 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 12:0030.0N 75.5W80 kt946 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 18:0031.4N 76.2W85 kt944 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 00:0033.2N 76.0W90 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 05:30 landfall35.2N 75.6W90 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 06:0035.5N 75.5W90 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 12:0038.4N 74.5W85 kt951 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 16:00 landfall40.6N 73.3W75 kt961 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 18:0041.9N 72.8W75 kt964 mbHurricane
Sep 28, 00:0045.5N 70.0W50 kt986 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 06:0048.1N 67.8W50 kt987 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 12:0049.5N 64.5W50 kt987 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 18:0050.8N 61.2W50 kt987 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 00:0051.5N 57.5W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 06:0052.1N 53.8W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 12:0052.4N 50.0W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 18:0052.5N 47.5W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 30, 00:0052.5N 45.0W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 30, 06:0052.5N 42.5W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 30, 12:0052.5N 40.0W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Sep 30, 18:0052.9N 37.9W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Oct 1, 00:0053.3N 35.9W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Oct 1, 06:0053.8N 34.0W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Oct 1, 12:0054.5N 32.0W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Oct 1, 18:0055.5N 30.0W50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Oct 2, 00:0056.6N 29.0W50 kt960 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.