hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1979 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 20 storms · 11 Jun 1979–10 Nov 1979

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY92.9
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1979 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 20 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalUnnamed: 11 Jun–16 Jun, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionAna: 19 Jun–24 Jun, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 8 Jul–13 Jul, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionBob: 9 Jul–16 Jul, peak 65 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 10 Jul–13 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionClaudette: 15 Jul–29 Jul, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 23 Jul–26 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 31 Jul–6 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionDavid: 25 Aug–6 Sep, peak 150 kt, Category 5Unnamed: 25 Aug–28 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionFrederic: 29 Aug–14 Sep, peak 115 kt, Category 4Elena: 30 Aug–2 Sep, peak 35 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 1 Sep–6 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionGloria: 4 Sep–15 Sep, peak 85 kt, Category 2Henri: 15 Sep–24 Sep, peak 75 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 16 Sep–21 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 12 Oct–20 Oct, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 23 Oct–25 Oct, no US-agency windUnnamed: 24 Oct–29 Oct, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 7 Nov–10 Nov, peak 30 kt, Tropical depression

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,010
Ana–50Tropical storm10051,300
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—1,540
Bob–65Cat 19861,960
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,160
Claudette–45Tropical storm9974,300
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,200
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—2,910
David–150Cat 59245,000
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—600
Frederic–115Cat 49435,540
Elena–35Tropical storm1004500
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,780
Gloria–85Cat 29753,020
Henri–75Cat 19831,370
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,670
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—910
Unnamed–—Unclassified—1,420
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—740
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—660

20 storms with an IBTrACS 1979 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 11 Jun 1979, last 10 Nov 1979.

Tropical storms9

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes5

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)2

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 51

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormDavid

150 kt · 173 mph / 278 km/h

Lowest pressure924 hPa

David, 30 Aug 1979

Longest track record16.8 days

Frederic, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind1

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1979 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 5 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 9 tropical storms, with 2 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season?

David, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 150 kt (Category 5) on 30 Aug 1979, 18:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 924 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1979?

1 storm in the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: David.

When did the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 11 Jun 1979 and the last on 10 Nov 1979, from 20 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season?

Bob, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 11 Jul 1979, 00:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 1979 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology