The 1990 season

Hurricane Bertha (1990)

Hurricane Bertha reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between July 24, 1990 and August 2, 1990, with a lowest pressure of 973 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Bertha, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1990 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
July 24, 1990 to August 2, 1990
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
973 mb (28.73 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.9
Fastest the center moved
25 kt (29 mph)
Identifier
AL031990

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 24, 12:0034.0N 75.0W20 kt1012 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 24, 18:0033.6N 73.8W20 kt1013 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 25, 00:0033.0N 72.7W20 kt1013 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 25, 06:0032.1N 71.9W20 kt1013 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 25, 12:0031.2N 71.8W20 kt1012 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 25, 18:0030.7N 72.2W25 kt1011 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 26, 00:0030.5N 72.8W25 kt1010 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 26, 06:0030.3N 73.4W25 kt1010 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 26, 12:0030.1N 74.0W25 kt1010 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 26, 18:0029.8N 74.6W25 kt1010 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 27, 00:0029.6N 75.2W25 kt1009 mbSubtropical depression
Jul 27, 06:0029.3N 75.6W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jul 27, 12:0029.1N 75.8W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jul 27, 18:0028.8N 76.0W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Jul 28, 00:0028.6N 75.8W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 06:0028.8N 75.4W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 12:0029.1N 74.8W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 18:0029.6N 74.2W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 00:0030.2N 73.6W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Jul 29, 06:0030.8N 73.0W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Jul 29, 12:0031.3N 72.2W65 kt989 mbHurricane
Jul 29, 18:0031.9N 71.2W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 00:0032.7N 70.2W60 kt989 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 06:0033.7N 69.2W60 kt987 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 12:0034.7N 68.3W65 kt985 mbHurricane
Jul 30, 18:0035.7N 67.5W65 kt979 mbHurricane
Jul 31, 00:0036.6N 67.0W70 kt974 mbHurricane
Jul 31, 06:0037.5N 66.5W65 kt975 mbHurricane
Jul 31, 12:0038.3N 65.9W65 kt976 mbHurricane
Jul 31, 18:0039.0N 65.3W65 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 00:0039.6N 64.5W65 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 06:0040.3N 63.7W65 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 12:0041.1N 62.7W65 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 18:0042.4N 61.5W65 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 2, 00:0044.2N 60.5W70 kt973 mbHurricane
Aug 2, 06:0046.0N 60.0W60 kt978 mbExtratropical
Aug 2, 12:0048.4N 60.0W55 kt982 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1990

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.