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Hurricane Bonnie (1998)

Hurricane Bonnie was a Category 3 hurricane at its peak, with 115 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 954 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 21 of the cities we track; the strongest was Wilmington, NC, with a modeled peak gust of 117 mph.

Peak strength115 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 3
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
21
LandfallsFirst August 27, 1998
1
Lowest pressure
954 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Bonnie’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. August 27, 1998, Category 2 at 109 mph, about 17 miles from Wilmington, NC

Modeled winds at cities (21)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Wilmington, NC117 mph95 mph11 milesAug 26, 1998, 5:15 PM EDT
Myrtle Beach, SC111 mph90 mph65 milesAug 27, 1998, 12:00 AM EDT
Fayetteville, NC106 mph86 mph86 milesAug 27, 1998, 12:00 AM EDT
Raleigh, NC97 mph79 mph108 milesAug 26, 1998, 11:45 PM EDT
Durham, NC91 mph74 mph126 milesAug 26, 1998, 11:45 PM EDT
Charleston, SC81 mph66 mph126 milesAug 26, 1998, 8:00 PM EDT
Greensboro, NC77 mph62 mph168 milesAug 26, 1998, 11:45 PM EDT
Virginia Beach, VA73 mph60 mph61 milesAug 26, 1998, 11:45 PM EDT
Columbia, SC73 mph59 mph183 milesAug 27, 1998, 12:00 AM EDT
Charlotte, NC71 mph58 mph186 milesAug 27, 1998, 12:00 AM EDT
Winston-Salem, NC71 mph58 mph186 milesAug 26, 1998, 11:45 PM EDT
Richmond, VA64 mph52 mph148 milesAug 26, 1998, 11:45 PM EDT
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What happened

Bonnie's eye passed just east of Cape Fear, North Carolina, around 5:30 p.m. EDT on August 26, 1998.1 It made landfall near Wilmington around 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 UTC August 27) as a hurricane on the line between Category 2 and 3, with best-track winds of 95 knots (109 mph) and a pressure of 964 mb.1

Storm surge reached 7 to 9 feet in New Hanover County, 5 to 7 feet in Pender County and 5 to 8 feet on Brunswick County's eastern barrier islands.2,3,4 Wind gusts reached about 100 mph along the New Hanover County coast and 98 mph at Topsail Beach, and winds reached 93 mph at Southport, where many homes were damaged.2,3,4 At Belhaven, surge on the Pungo River flooded two thirds of the homes, with water up to 6 feet above normal.5 Wind damage was worst along Bogue Banks in Carteret County, where two hotels and a department store lost their roofs.5 NOAA's Storm Events Database lists property damage of $35 million in Brunswick County, $26.2 million in New Hanover County and $11 million in Pender County.2,3,4

In Hampton Roads, Virginia, Cape Henry measured gusts to 104 mph, and high winds blew out many windows in hotels along the Virginia Beach oceanfront.6 The database lists $11.5 million in property damage in Virginia Beach and $9 million in Norfolk, Hampton and Portsmouth.6,7 NHC counts three deaths, including a 12-year-old girl in Currituck County, North Carolina, killed when a tree fell on her home, and estimates total US damage at $720 million.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Preliminary Report: Hurricane Bonnie, 19 to 30 August 1998
  2. 2. NOAA NCEI: Storm Events Database: Hurricane, New Hanover County, North Carolina, August 26, 1998
  3. 3. NOAA NCEI: Storm Events Database: Hurricane, Pender County, North Carolina, August 26, 1998
  4. 4. NOAA NCEI: Storm Events Database: Hurricane, Brunswick County, North Carolina, August 26, 1998
  5. 5. NOAA NCEI: Storm Events Database: Hurricane, Carteret County, North Carolina, August 26, 1998
  6. 6. NOAA NCEI: Storm Events Database: Hurricane, Virginia Beach, Virginia, August 26, 1998
  7. 7. NOAA NCEI: Storm Events Database: Hurricane, Norfolk, Hampton and Portsmouth, Virginia, August 26, 1998

Best track (49 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Aug 19, 12:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1009 mb14.7°N, 48.1°W
Aug 19, 18:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1009 mb15.4°N, 50.1°W
Aug 20, 00:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1009 mb16.2°N, 52.2°W
Aug 20, 06:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1008 mb16.9°N, 54.7°W
Aug 20, 12:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1007 mb17.3°N, 57.3°W
Aug 20, 18:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1006 mb18.2°N, 59.6°W
Aug 21, 00:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph1005 mb18.7°N, 61.3°W
Aug 21, 06:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1002 mb19.1°N, 62.9°W
Aug 21, 12:00 UTCTropical storm58 mph1000 mb19.5°N, 64.5°W
Aug 21, 18:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph999 mb20.3°N, 65.9°W
Aug 22, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph991 mb21.1°N, 67.3°W
Aug 22, 06:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane81 mph989 mb21.8°N, 68.7°W
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