hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1980 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 18 storms · 17 Jul 1980–27 Nov 1980

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY148.9
Open in the explorerExplore
1980 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 18 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: 17 Jul–21 Jul, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 17 Jul–21 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 22 Jul–26 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionAllen: 1 Aug–11 Aug, peak 165 kt, Category 5Unnamed: 13 Aug–17 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionBonnie: 14 Aug–19 Aug, peak 85 kt, Category 2Charley: 23 Aug–25 Aug, peak 70 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 25 Aug–29 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionGeorges: 1 Sep–8 Sep, peak 70 kt, Category 1Earl: 4 Sep–10 Sep, peak 65 kt, Category 1Danielle: 4 Sep–7 Sep, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormFrances: 6 Sep–20 Sep, peak 100 kt, Category 3Hermine: 20 Sep–26 Sep, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormIvan: 4 Oct–11 Oct, peak 90 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 16 Oct–18 Oct, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionJeanne: 8 Nov–16 Nov, peak 85 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 12 Nov–18 Nov, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionKarl: 25 Nov–27 Nov, peak 75 kt, Category 1

Drag to pan · Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the whole map.

Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—730
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—500
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,370
Allen–165Cat 58994,400
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—2,050
Bonnie–85Cat 29752,390
Charley–70Cat 19891,990
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,760
Georges–70Cat 19933,660
Earl–65Cat 19853,060
Danielle–50Tropical storm1004520
Frances–100Cat 39584,220
Hermine–60Tropical storm9931,200
Ivan–90Cat 29703,410
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—160
Jeanne–85Cat 29861,390
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,180
Karl–75Cat 19851,020

18 storms with an IBTrACS 1980 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 17 Jul 1980, last 27 Nov 1980.

Tropical storms11

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

Hurricanes9

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 stormAllen

165 kt · 190 mph / 306 km/h

Lowest pressure899 hPa

Allen, 7 Aug 1980

Longest track record15 days

Frances, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1980 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 9 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 11 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 1980 Atlantic hurricane season?

Allen, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 165 kt (Category 5) on 7 Aug 1980, 18:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 899 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1980?

1 storm in the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: Allen.

When did the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 17 Jul 1980 and the last on 27 Nov 1980, from 18 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season?

Allen, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 3 Aug 1980, 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 1980 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