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Storms That Hit

NHC AL091979 · Atlantic basin

Hurricane David (1979)

August 25, 1979 – September 8, 1979

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

Hurricane David peaked at Category 5 with 173 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 2,030 US cities, 260 of them while still at hurricane strength.

David in the record

HURDAT2 tracks David from August 25, 1979 to September 8, 1979; its peak was 173 mph (Category 5). Its centre passed within 75 miles of 2,030 US cities, in 15 states, most in Pennsylvania (427) and New York (270). The strongest pass was 98 mph (Category 2) less than a mile from Cape Canaveral, FL; the centre came closest to Bridgewater, VA, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 5

173 mph

Cities within 75 mi
2,030
At hurricane strength
260

when closest

States
15
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Cities David passed near, strongest first

Florida (198)

and 138 more

Georgia (63)

and 3 more

South Carolina (172)

and 112 more

Maine (142)

and 82 more

North Carolina (206)

and 146 more

New Hampshire (88)

and 28 more

Vermont (73)

and 13 more

New York (270)

and 210 more

Massachusetts (18)

Pennsylvania (427)

and 367 more

Virginia (216)

and 156 more

Maryland (98)

and 38 more

West Virginia (52)

New Jersey (6)

Connecticut (1)

Other storms of the 1979 season

  • BobCategory 1 · 168 cities
  • ClaudetteTropical storm · 92 cities
  • FredericCategory 4 · 1,147 cities
  • ElenaTropical storm · 28 cities

All hurricanes and tropical storms →

About this record

The track is the National Hurricane Center's best-track record, revised after the season with every observation available. Strength at a city is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, not the wind that city measured.