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All storm pages · 2019 Atlantic season

Hurricane Dorian 2019

Category 5 hurricane · Atlantic · August 24 to September 7, 2019

Dorian's peak sustained wind of 185 mph is tied for the third-highest of the 1,988 storms in the Atlantic record since 1851, and one of 44 Category 5 storms in that record. No storm in the record came ashore in the Bahamas with stronger winds than its 185 mph landfall on September 1, 2019; 29 storms have a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 5 different places: Barbados, Saint Lucia, the US Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and North Carolina. The name Dorian is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Dorian (2019) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N20°N30°N40°N50°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°WBarbados, 50 mphSaint Lucia, 50 mphUS Virgin Islands, 75 mphBahamas, 185 mphNorth Carolina, 100 mphPeak 185 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 500 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Dorian (2019) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160200Aug 25Aug 27Aug 29Aug 31Sep 2Sep 4Sep 6Sep 8mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 675 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  2. Tropical storm 550 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Landfall Barbados: tropical storm, 50 mph, 1005 mb
  4. Landfall Saint Lucia: tropical storm, 50 mph, 1005 mb
  5. Hurricane 10 miles east-northeast of Christiansted, the US Virgin Islands
  6. Landfall US Virgin Islands: Category 1, 75 mph, 995 mb
  7. Landfall US Virgin Islands: Category 1, 80 mph, 993 mb
  8. Major hurricane 345 miles north of Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic
  9. Peak 100 miles north-northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas; lowest pressure 910 mb
  10. Landfall Bahamas
  11. Landfall Bahamas: Category 5, 180 mph, 914 mb
  12. Landfall North Carolina: Category 2, 100 mph, 956 mb
  13. No longer tropical (low) 135 miles south-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  14. Last record 230 miles northeast of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind185 mph · tied 3rd of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure910 mb · tied 13th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy48.9 · 18th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone14.2 days · tied 57th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

It generated 38% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 2019 storm.

In the 2019 season

04080120160200Dorian

Storm 5 of 20 in 2019, hurricane 2 of 6; it formed after Chantal and before Erin. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of 7 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
Castries, Saint Lucia4 mi50 mphAugust 27
Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados6 mi50 mphAugust 27
Christiansted, the US Virgin Islands10 mi75 mphAugust 28
Fort-de-France, Martinique, France25 mi50 mphAugust 27
Freeport, the Bahamas26 mi145 mphSeptember 2
Roseau, Saint George, Dominica44 mi50 mphAugust 27
Wilmington, North Carolina45 mi105 mphSeptember 6

Every storm within 50 miles of Fort-de-France, Martinique, France

Similar landfalls in Bahamas

Storms whose strongest landfall record in the Bahamas came closest to Dorian's 185 mph:

All 29 storms with a landfall record in Bahamas

Also peaked at 185 mph

Of 3 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: