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Hurricane Dorian (2019)

Hurricane Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane at its peak, with 184 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 910 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 5 of the cities we track; the strongest was Wilmington, NC, with a modeled peak gust of 84 mph.

Peak strength184 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 5
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
5
LandfallsFirst August 27, 2019
7
Lowest pressure
910 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 Dorian’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, 2019, tropical storm at 52 mph, in Barbados
  2. August 27, 2019, tropical storm at 52 mph, in Saint Lucia
  3. August 28, 2019, Category 1 at 75 mph, in the US Virgin Islands
  4. August 28, 2019, Category 1 at 81 mph, in the US Virgin Islands
  5. September 1, 2019, Category 5 at 184 mph, in the Bahamas
  6. September 2, 2019, Category 5 at 178 mph, in the Bahamas
  7. September 6, 2019, Category 2 at 98 mph, about 112 miles from Virginia Beach, VA

Modeled winds at cities (5)

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

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Wilmington, NC84 mph68 mph42 milesSep 5, 2019, 11:00 PM EDT
Myrtle Beach, SC75 mph61 mph53 milesSep 5, 2019, 6:30 PM EDT
Charleston, SC66 mph54 mph61 milesSep 5, 2019, 12:15 PM EDT
Hilton Head Island, SC52 mph42 mph84 milesSep 5, 2019, 3:15 AM EDT
Virginia Beach, VA49 mph40 mph105 milesSep 6, 2019, 8:45 AM EDT

What happened

After striking the northwestern Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane, Dorian made its only US landfall over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 UTC) on September 6, 2019, with 85-knot (98 mph) winds, a Category 2 intensity.1 NHC notes those winds were mostly over water and that North Carolina itself had Category 1 winds.1

The highest US storm surge measured was 5.55 feet at the Coast Guard station in Hatteras, and water rose 5 to 7 feet above ground on parts of Hatteras Island, including Buxton, Avon, Hatteras and Frisco.1 On Ocracoke Island, a 4 to 7 foot surge trapped several people in their attics until boats rescued them, and flooding damaged NC Highway 12.2 Inundation reached 2 to 4 feet along the South Carolina coast, highest in the Grand Strand near Myrtle Beach.1 Measured gusts reached 96 knots (110 mph) at Cedar Island, 85 knots (98 mph) at Nags Head and 77 knots (89 mph) at Winyah Bay Range, South Carolina.1 Rain peaked at 15.21 inches at Pawleys Island, South Carolina.1

Dorian produced 21 tornadoes, 19 in eastern North Carolina and 2 in northeastern South Carolina, two of them rated EF2.1 One EF2, with winds estimated at 115 mph, damaged numerous homes and businesses in Emerald Isle on September 5.2 The other EF2 damaged several dozen homes in a Carolina Shores subdivision in Brunswick County, tearing large sections off roofs and driving lumber through walls.3 NHC lists no direct US deaths and four indirect deaths, three in Florida and one in North Carolina, and NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information estimates $1.6 billion in US damage.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Dorian (AL052019)
  2. 2. NWS Newport/Morehead City: Hurricane Dorian, September 6, 2019
  3. 3. NWS Wilmington, NC: Hurricane Dorian: September 5-6, 2019

Best track (70 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Aug 24, 06:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1011 mb10.3°N, 46.4°W
Aug 24, 12:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1010 mb10.4°N, 47.5°W
Aug 24, 18:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1008 mb10.6°N, 48.7°W
Aug 25, 00:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1008 mb10.8°N, 49.9°W
Aug 25, 06:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1008 mb11.0°N, 51.0°W
Aug 25, 12:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph1007 mb11.2°N, 52.3°W
Aug 25, 18:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1007 mb11.4°N, 53.5°W
Aug 26, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1007 mb11.6°N, 54.7°W
Aug 26, 06:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1006 mb11.9°N, 56.0°W
Aug 26, 12:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1006 mb12.2°N, 57.2°W
Aug 26, 18:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1006 mb12.6°N, 58.3°W
Aug 27, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1005 mb13.0°N, 59.2°W
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