Track map & timeline · Eastern Pacific · September 16–30, 1980
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 Kay (1980) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1980 Eastern Pacific season. It formed on September 16, 1980, reached its peak of 138 mph (222 km/h) on September 18, 1980, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 64 mph in 24 hours (to 104 mph on September 17, 1980). The storm lasted 14.3 days and travelled about 3,832 miles (6,165 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 12.7°N 103.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 12.8°N 104.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 18:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 13.1°N 105.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 17 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 13.5°N 105.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 17 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 13.9°N 106.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 17 12:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 14.3°N 107.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 17 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 15.1°N 108.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 18 00:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 15.6°N 109.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 18 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 16.1°N 110.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 18 12:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | — | 16.6°N 112.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 18 18:00 | Cat 4 | 138 mph | — | 17.0°N 113.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 19 00:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | — | 17.2°N 115.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 19 06:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 17.3°N 117.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 19 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 17.5°N 118.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 19 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 17.7°N 120.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 20 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 17.9°N 120.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 20 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 18.0°N 122.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 20 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 18.1°N 123.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 20 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 18.1°N 124.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 21 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 18.1°N 125.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 21 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 18.0°N 126.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 21 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 17.8°N 127.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 21 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 17.5°N 128.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 17.3°N 129.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 06:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 17.3°N 130.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 12:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 17.6°N 131.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 18.0°N 132.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 00:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 18.5°N 133.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 18.8°N 134.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 19.2°N 135.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 19.5°N 136.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 19.8°N 137.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 20.0°N 138.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 20.3°N 139.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 20.5°N 140.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 21.2°N 141.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 21.7°N 141.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 22.1°N 142.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 22.5°N 142.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 00:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 22.9°N 142.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 23.1°N 143.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 23.3°N 143.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 18:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 23.3°N 143.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 23.3°N 143.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 23.3°N 143.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 23.4°N 144.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 18:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 23.1°N 144.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 22.7°N 145.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 22.5°N 146.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 22.5°N 148.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 18:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 23.1°N 149.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 23.5°N 150.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 23.5°N 151.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 23.5°N 152.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 23.8°N 154.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 24.1°N 155.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 24.8°N 156.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 26.3°N 157.8°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Kay.
At its peak on September 18, 1980, Kay was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 138 mph (222 km/h).
14.3 days, from September 16, 1980 to September 30, 1980, including 186 hours at hurricane strength (42 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 3,832 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.
This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.
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