Hurricane Bret (1999)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

August 18, 1999 to August 25, 1999

Peak strength

Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)

Lowest pressure

944 mb (27.88 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

11.6

Fastest the center moved

9 kt (10 mph)

Identifier

AL031999

Radar at KCRP as it neared land, Aug 23, 00:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

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

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

0

Property damage

$20,000

Crop damage

none recorded

Events recorded

12 in 2 reports from 2 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

8 flash flood, 3 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind.

3 tornadoes recorded in the United States, strongest first.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 63 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 12.73 inches (323 mm).

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

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Moisture from Hurricane Bret helped ignite severe thunderstorms in the Tucson International Airport area. These storms produced heavy rain, pea size hail and high winds that knocked over two power poles.

Pima, Arizona · Thunderstorm Wind · Aug 27, 20:30 UTC

• Tropical Storm ArleneNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm50 kt · 1006 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1004 mb
• Hurricane CindyNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4120 kt · 942 mb
• Hurricane DennisNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 290 kt · 962 mb
• Tropical Storm EmilyNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm45 kt · 1004 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1006 mb
• Hurricane FloydNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4135 kt · 921 mb
• Hurricane GertNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4130 kt · 930 mb
• Tropical Storm HarveyNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm50 kt · 994 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1002 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1007 mb
• Hurricane IreneNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 295 kt · 958 mb
• Hurricane JoseNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 285 kt · 979 mb
• Tropical Storm KatrinaNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm35 kt · 999 mb
• Hurricane LennyNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4135 kt · 933 mb

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.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Bret