Hurricane Bob (1985)

Hurricane Bob (1985)

Hurricane Bob was the first of six hurricanes to strike the United States during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the second tropical storm and first hurricane of the year. Bob caused USD 20 million in damages and caused 5 indirect deaths in the U.S.

About Hurricane Bob (1985) in brief

Summary Hurricane Bob (1985)Hurricane Bob was the first of six hurricanes to strike the United States during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the second tropical storm and first hurricane of the year. Bob caused USD 20 million in damage as well as five indirect deaths. The storm produced heavy rainfall, peaking at over 20 inches in Everglades City, Florida. Bob quickly weakened over land, and was absorbed by a frontal trough over eastern West Virginia on July 26. Bob was not severe enough to justify retirement of the name ‘Bob’, and was re-used during the 1991 season. The remnants of a tropical wave entered the eastern Gulf of Mexico on July 20. It developed into a tropical depression on July 21, then into Tropical Storm Bob on July 22. Bob failed to organize significantly as it tracked east through the Gulf, and made landfall between Naples and Fort Myers, Florida on July 23 as a 45 mph tropical storm. It subsequently left the peninsula, entering the Atlantic Ocean near Vero Beach early on July 24.

As it moved over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, it quickly organized and intensified into a Category 1 hurricane while 70 mi east of Jacksonville, Florida, while maintaining winds of 75 mph. The hurricane continued north, and make landfall near Beaufort, South Carolina early onJuly 25. Bob’s remnants turned north-northeast, and were absorbed into a Tropical Depression near the North Carolina – Virginia border. An associated area of disturbed weather remained separate from the trough, and continued northeast through the Mid-Atlantic and New England. It degenerated into a tropical storm three hours after landfall, and re-formed as a tropical storm on July 27. Bob inflicted USD 20 million in damages and caused 5 indirect deaths in the U.S. It also spawned three tornadoes, one of which destroyed two houses in Virginia. In southern Florida, the heaviest rainfall remained to south of the storm’s center; 5. inches of precipitation recorded in Northern parts of the state.