The 1986 season

Hurricane Bonnie (1986)

Hurricane Bonnie reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between June 23, 1986 and June 28, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Bonnie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1986 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
June 23, 1986 to June 28, 1986
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
990 mb (29.23 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.9
Fastest the center moved
13 kt (15 mph)
Identifier
AL021986

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
Jun 26, 10:00Stowell, TX, 28 km away29.6N 94.2W75 kt (86 mph)990 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 982 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 13.00 inches (330 mm).

StationTotalPosition
ACE13.00 in (330 mm)30.54N 94.82W
EL DORADO S AR RGNL AP11.75 in (298 mm)33.22N 92.82W
LIVINGSTON 10S11.50 in (292 mm)30.54N 94.95W
MOORINGSPORT 1 N9.92 in (252 mm)32.70N 93.97W
JEFFERSON9.20 in (234 mm)32.77N 94.33W
GOODRICH9.00 in (229 mm)30.61N 94.95W
PLAIN DEALING 4 W8.91 in (226 mm)32.90N 93.70W
KEITHVILLE8.68 in (220 mm)32.35N 93.87W
SHREVEPORT DOWNTOWN8.31 in (211 mm)32.55N 93.75W
VIDOR8.00 in (203 mm)30.13N 94.00W
BETHANY7.57 in (192 mm)32.38N 94.05W
RED RIVER RESEARCH STN7.21 in (183 mm)32.42N 93.63W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jun 23, 18:0025.6N 87.2W25 kt1014 mbTropical depression
Jun 24, 00:0025.7N 87.8W25 kt1013 mbTropical depression
Jun 24, 06:0026.0N 88.4W25 kt1014 mbTropical depression
Jun 24, 12:0026.4N 88.9W30 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jun 24, 18:0026.6N 89.5W40 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jun 25, 00:0026.7N 90.3W45 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Jun 25, 06:0026.8N 91.0W50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 25, 12:0027.2N 91.7W55 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jun 25, 18:0027.7N 92.2W65 kt1001 mbHurricane
Jun 26, 00:0028.2N 92.9W70 kt999 mbHurricane
Jun 26, 06:0029.0N 93.7W75 kt995 mbHurricane
Jun 26, 10:00 landfall29.6N 94.2W75 kt990 mbHurricane
Jun 26, 12:0029.9N 94.3W65 kt992 mbHurricane
Jun 26, 18:0030.9N 94.7W35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 00:0031.8N 94.7W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jun 27, 06:0032.8N 94.7W25 kt1015 mbTropical depression
Jun 27, 12:0033.9N 94.3W20 kt1016 mbTropical depression
Jun 27, 18:0034.8N 93.5W20 kt1016 mbTropical depression
Jun 28, 00:0035.6N 92.5W15 kt1014 mbTropical depression
Jun 28, 06:0036.5N 91.3W10 kt1013 mbTropical depression
Jun 28, 12:0037.2N 90.0W10 kt1012 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1986

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.