Hurricane History Map

1979 North Atlantic season

20 storms formed in the North Atlantic basin in 1979, from 11 June 1979 to 10 November 1979.

Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

Years1979
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

The 1979 season in numbers

The record holds 20 storms for the 1979 North Atlantic season, of which 8 had names.9 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 6 reached hurricane strength (category 1 or more) and 2 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 20storms
  • 9tropical storm strength or more
  • 6hurricane strength or more
  • 2major (category 3 to 5)
  • 93accumulated cyclone energy

Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the squared wind speed of every position of 34 knots or more, divided by 10,000. It is approximate here because the winds are 1-minute equivalents, and it is mostly useful for comparing seasons of one basin.

Strongest storms of 1979

  • David (1979)25 August 1979 to 8 September 1979, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 924 hPa
  • Frederic (1979)29 August 1979 to 15 September 1979, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 943 hPa
  • Gloria (1979)4 September 1979 to 15 September 1979, peak Category 2 (85 kt), 975 hPa
  • Henri (1979)15 September 1979 to 24 September 1979, peak Category 1 (75 kt), 983 hPa
  • Bob (1979)9 July 1979 to 16 July 1979, peak Category 1 (65 kt), 986 hPa

All 20 storms of 1979

StormPeak
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Ana Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Bob Category 1
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Claudette Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
David Category 5
Frederic Category 4
Elena Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Gloria Category 2
Henri Category 1
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Unnamed storm Category 1
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Unnamed storm Tropical depression

← 1978 · 1980 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1979

Embed this map

Copy this code into your web page. It is free to use. Please keep the link under the map, as it is how people find where the map comes from.