The 1985 season

Tropical Storm Henri (1985)

Tropical Storm Henri peaked at 50 kt in the North Atlantic between September 21, 1985 and September 25, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 996 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Henri, 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 21, 1985 to September 25, 1985
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure
996 mb (29.41 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
1.1
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
AL101985

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 24, 21:00Hampton Bays, NY, 8 km away40.8N 72.5W35 kt (40 mph)1007 mb
Sep 25, 00:00Westerly, RI, 9 km away41.3N 71.8W30 kt (35 mph)1007 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 1,102 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 3.16 inches (80 mm).

StationTotalPosition
STERLING3.16 in (80 mm)42.45N 71.82W
HATTERAS3.13 in (80 mm)35.22N 75.72W
NEW BERN CRAVEN CO REGL AP2.56 in (65 mm)35.07N 77.05W
WEST GROTON2.37 in (60 mm)42.62N 71.63W
BELVIDERE BRIDGE2.27 in (58 mm)40.83N 75.08W
CAPE MAY 2 NW2.20 in (56 mm)38.95N 74.93W
CEDAR ISLAND2.15 in (55 mm)34.98N 76.30W
WAKEFIELD 1NW2.15 in (55 mm)36.98N 77.00W
CAPE HATTERAS BILLY MITCHELL1.87 in (47 mm)35.23N 75.62W
DUNSTABLE1.84 in (47 mm)42.67N 71.52W
MANTEO AIRPORT1.83 in (46 mm)35.92N 75.70W
NASHUA1.77 in (45 mm)42.77N 71.45W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 21, 18:0029.6N 74.3W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 22, 00:0030.5N 74.4W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 22, 06:0031.5N 74.5W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 22, 12:0032.4N 74.6W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Sep 22, 18:0033.3N 74.6W30 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Sep 23, 00:0034.3N 74.5W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Sep 23, 06:0035.3N 74.3W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0036.0N 74.1W50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0036.7N 74.0W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0037.4N 74.0W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0038.2N 74.0W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0039.2N 73.7W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0040.3N 73.0W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 21:00 landfall40.8N 72.5W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:00 landfall41.3N 71.8W30 kt1007 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.