Meteorological History
The origins of Hurricane Bonnie can be traced back to a mid-level center of circulation that formed in association with a quasi-stationary cold front that stretched across northern Florida and the extreme northeast Gulf of Mexico in mid-June 1986. On June 20, a weak and disorganized area of low pressure developed in conjunction with the stationary frontal boundary and it passed by Tampa Bay, Florida the following day. Upon moving into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, an absence of deep shower and thunderstorm activity was observed on satellite imagery, although a distinguishable wind-shift was noted by an offshore buoy. However, by June 23, the presence of deep convection atop a well-defined circulation had became well enough established to classify the disturbance as a tropical depression while centered 330 mi (535 km) southwest of Cape Coral, Florida. Moving generally west to west-northwestward across the central Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) sent a reconnaissance plane into the tropical depression at 1500 UTC on June 24, at which time they found estimated winds of 60 mph (95 km/h). Subsequently, the tropical depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Bonnie.
Over the course of the next 24 hours, satellite imagery showed a substantial increase in upper-level outflow as Tropical Storm Bonnie gradually intensified. A reconnaissance plane into the system shortly before noon on June 25 revealed hurricane force winds 1500 feet above the surface. This evidence was the basis of Bonnie's upgrade to a Category 1 on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the first of the season. During the afternoon hours of June 26, Bonnie reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 992 mbar (hPa; 29.23 inHg). While accelerating towards the northwest, the hurricane retained this intensity until landfall near High Island, Texas. Bonnie quickly weakened to a tropical storm after landfall, and was downgraded to tropical depression status at 0000 UTC on June 27. The depression began to dissipate six hours later, although its remnants persisted until 1200 UTC on June 28, at which time it was located over the U.S. state of Missouri.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Bonnie (1986)
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