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All storm pages · 1991 Atlantic season

Hurricane Bob 1991

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · August 16 to August 20, 1991

Bob's 105 mph landfall in Rhode Island on August 19, 1991 ranks the second-strongest of the 8 storms with a landfall record there. With a peak of 115 mph, it ranked the second-strongest of the 12 storms of the 1991 season. It produced 23% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Bob is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Bob (1991) from the best-track record, coloured by strength30°N40°N50°N70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°WRhode Island, 105 mphMaine, 70 mphPeak 115 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Bob (1991) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120Aug 17Aug 19Aug 21Aug 23Aug 25Aug 27Aug 29mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 195 miles east-northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas
  2. Tropical storm 135 miles northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas
  3. Hurricane 195 miles north-northeast of Freeport, the Bahamas
  4. Major hurricane 85 miles east-southeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia
  5. Peak 85 miles east-southeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; lowest pressure 950 mb
  6. Landfall Rhode Island
  7. Landfall Rhode Island: Category 2, 100 mph, 964 mb
  8. Landfall Maine: tropical storm, 70 mph, 981 mb
  9. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 160 miles north-northeast of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
  10. Last record far out at sea, at 40.0°N, 9.9°W

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind115 mph · tied 281st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure950 mb · tied 175th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy8.0 · tied 622nd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone4.5 days · tied 1009th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1991 season

04080120160Bob

Storm 3 of 12 in 1991, hurricane 1 of 4; it formed after Storm 2 of 1991 and before Storm 4 of 1991. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Newport, Rhode Island1 mi100 mphAugust 19
New Bedford, Massachusetts12 mi90 mphAugust 19
Salem, Massachusetts14 mi85 mphAugust 19
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada15 mi60 mphAugust 20
Providence, Rhode Island15 mi90 mphAugust 19
Bangor, Maine15 mi65 mphAugust 20
Boston, Massachusetts17 mi85 mphAugust 19
Portland, Maine24 mi75 mphAugust 19

Every storm within 50 miles of Boston, Massachusetts

Similar landfalls in Rhode Island

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Rhode Island came closest to Bob's 105 mph:

  • Storm 7 of 1944100 mph, September 15, 1944
  • Storm 6 of 1869115 mph, September 8, 1869
  • Storm 3 of 191670 mph, July 21, 1916
  • Henri (2021)65 mph, August 22, 2021

All 8 storms with a landfall record in Rhode Island

Also peaked at 115 mph

Of 64 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Emily (1993)960 mb, no landfall record
  • Marilyn (1995)949 mb, landfall in Dominica
  • Roxanne (1995)956 mb, landfall in Quintana Roo
  • Bertha (1996)960 mb, landfall in North Carolina