Track map & timeline · Atlantic · August 25 – September 8, 1979
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Hurricane David (1979) was a Category 5 hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic season. It formed on August 25, 1979, reached its peak of 173 mph (278 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 924 mb on August 30, 1979, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 69 mph in 24 hours (to 132 mph on August 28, 1979). The storm lasted 13.5 days and travelled about 5,743 miles (9,241 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | 13 mi | Aug 31 · 21:00 UTC | Cat 5 161 mph |
| Santo Domingo Oeste, Dominican Republic | 11 mi | Aug 31 · 21:00 UTC | Cat 5 161 mph |
| Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic | 16 mi | Aug 31 · 21:00 UTC | Cat 5 161 mph |
| Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic | 37 mi | Sep 1 · 02:00 UTC | Cat 4 138 mph |
| Port-au-Prince, Haiti | 57 mi | Sep 1 · 06:00 UTC | Cat 3 115 mph |
| Delmas, Haiti | 56 mi | Sep 1 · 06:00 UTC | Cat 3 115 mph |
| Carrefour, Haiti | 58 mi | Sep 1 · 07:00 UTC | Cat 2 108 mph |
| Miami, Florida | 49 mi | Sep 3 · 11:00 UTC | Cat 2 97 mph |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 42 mi | Sep 4 · 13:00 UTC | Cat 2 97 mph |
| Charlotte, North Carolina | 20 mi | Sep 5 · 13:00 UTC | TS 51 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1008 mb | 11.7°N 36.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 25 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1007 mb | 11.7°N 38.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 26 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1006 mb | 11.7°N 40.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 26 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1005 mb | 11.6°N 42.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 26 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1003 mb | 11.6°N 44.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 26 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | 998 mb | 11.6°N 45.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 27 00:00 | TS | 63 mph | 990 mb | 11.7°N 47.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 27 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 980 mb | 11.8°N 48.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 27 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 966 mb | 11.8°N 50.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 27 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 954 mb | 11.9°N 51.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 00:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 947 mb | 12.2°N 52.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 06:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 941 mb | 12.5°N 54.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 12:00 | Cat 4 | 150 mph | 938 mb | 12.8°N 55.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 18:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 941 mb | 13.2°N 56.9°W | 183 mi E of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Aug 29 00:00 | Cat 4 | 138 mph | 944 mb | 13.7°N 58.0°W | 116 mi ENE of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Aug 29 06:00 | Cat 4 | 138 mph | 942 mb | 14.2°N 59.2°W | 81 mi NNE of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Aug 29 12:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 938 mb | 14.8°N 60.3°W | 42 mi ENE of Le François, Martinique |
| Aug 29 18:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 933 mb | 15.3°N 61.6°W | 14 mi W of Roseau, Dominica |
| Aug 30 00:00 | Cat 4 | 150 mph | 929 mb | 15.6°N 62.8°W | 76 mi WSW of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe |
| Aug 30 06:00 | Cat 5 | 161 mph | 925 mb | 16.0°N 64.2°W | 125 mi SSE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Aug 30 12:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 924 mb | 16.3°N 65.2°W | 103 mi SSW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Aug 30 18:00 | Cat 5 | 173 mph | 924 mb | 16.6°N 66.2°W | 96 mi S of Guayama, Puerto Rico |
| Aug 31 00:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 927 mb | 16.8°N 67.3°W | 95 mi SSW of Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Aug 31 06:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 928 mb | 17.0°N 68.3°W | 108 mi SSE of La Romana, Dominican Republic |
| Aug 31 12:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 927 mb | 17.2°N 69.1°W | 85 mi S of La Romana, Dominican Republic |
| Aug 31 18:00 | Cat 5 | 173 mph | 926 mb | 17.9°N 69.7°W | 41 mi SSE of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Sep 1 00:00 | Cat 4 | 150 mph | 953 mb | 18.8°N 70.4°W | 10 mi S of Bonao, Dominican Republic |
| Sep 1 06:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 978 mb | 19.3°N 72.0°W | 11 mi N of Hinche, Haiti |
| Sep 1 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 1002 mb | 19.7°N 73.7°W | 48 mi SE of Maisí, Guantánamo Province, Cuba |
| Sep 1 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | 1002 mb | 20.6°N 74.6°W | 19 mi NNW of Baracoa, Guantánamo Province, Cuba |
| Sep 2 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 997 mb | 21.3°N 75.2°W | 41 mi NE of Banes, Holguín Province, Cuba |
| Sep 2 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 990 mb | 21.9°N 75.5°W | 66 mi NNE of Banes, Holguín Province, Cuba |
| Sep 2 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 984 mb | 23.0°N 76.3°W | 118 mi NNE of Nuevitas, Camagüey, Cuba |
| Sep 2 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 979 mb | 23.9°N 77.4°W | 80 mi S of Nassau, Bahamas |
| Sep 3 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 976 mb | 24.6°N 78.2°W | 62 mi WSW of Nassau, Bahamas |
| Sep 3 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 974 mb | 25.3°N 79.1°W | 76 mi ESE of Miami, Florida |
| Sep 3 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 973 mb | 26.3°N 79.6°W | 30 mi E of Boca Raton, Florida |
| Sep 3 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 972 mb | 27.2°N 80.2°W | near Stuart, Florida |
| Sep 4 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 971 mb | 28.0°N 80.5°W | near Palm Bay, Florida |
| Sep 4 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 970 mb | 29.1°N 80.8°W | near New Smyrna Beach, Florida |
| Sep 4 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 970 mb | 30.2°N 80.9°W | 29 mi E of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida |
| Sep 4 18:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 970 mb | 31.5°N 81.2°W | 26 mi NNE of Saint Simon Mills, Georgia |
| Sep 5 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 972 mb | 32.5°N 81.1°W | 29 mi N of Savannah, Georgia |
| Sep 5 06:00 | TS | 63 mph | 976 mb | 33.5°N 80.9°W | near Orangeburg, South Carolina |
| Sep 5 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | 980 mb | 34.9°N 80.6°W | near Monroe, North Carolina |
| Sep 5 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | 984 mb | 36.2°N 80.1°W | 11 mi NE of Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Sep 6 00:00 | TS | 46 mph | 987 mb | 37.6°N 79.5°W | 22 mi NW of West Lynchburg, Virginia |
| Sep 6 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | 989 mb | 39.2°N 78.5°W | 18 mi W of Winchester, Virginia |
| Sep 6 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | 991 mb | 41.5°N 76.3°W | 19 mi NW of Back Mountain, Pennsylvania |
| Sep 6 18:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 992 mb | 43.3°N 73.7°W | near Glens Falls, New York |
| Sep 7 00:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | 991 mb | 45.0°N 70.0°W | 36 mi NNW of Waterville, Maine |
| Sep 7 06:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 988 mb | 46.5°N 66.0°W | 44 mi SSW of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Sep 7 12:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 987 mb | 47.5°N 61.5°W | 19 mi ENE of Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec, Canada |
| Sep 7 18:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | 986 mb | 50.0°N 57.0°W | 84 mi NNE of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Sep 8 00:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | 985 mb | 52.5°N 52.5°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for David. Its closest approach to a major city was 11 miles from Santo Domingo Oeste, Dominican Republic.
At its peak on August 30, 1979, David was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 173 mph (278 km/h) and a central pressure of 924 mb.
13.5 days, from August 25, 1979 to September 8, 1979, including 210 hours at hurricane strength (108 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,743 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
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