Hurricane Bonnie (1992)
| Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Hurricane Bonnie at peak intensity
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| Formed | September 17, 1992 |
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| Dissipated | September 30, 1992 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 110 mph (175 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 965 mbar (hPa); 28.5 inHg |
| Fatalities | 1 indirect |
| Damage | Minimal |
| Areas affected | Azores |
| Part of the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Bonnie was a long-lived storm in the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the third tropical storm (including the April subtropical storm) and second hurricane of the 1992 season. Bonnie formed at high latitudes in the central Atlantic on September 17. Devoid of any real steering currents for much of its lifespan, it was nearly stationary for over a week in the central Atlantic Ocean. On September 27, it began to slowly track east and northeast towards the Azores. Just before becoming extratropical, it affected the Azores on September 30, although no damage was reported.
The origins of the system was a cold front that moved off the U.S. East Coast on September 11. The front moved gradually off the coast and into the subtropical Atlantic Ocean before becoming stationary just east of Bermuda on September 15. Over the next two days, the cloud cover slowly detached itself from the front and form into a tropical low in its own right. On the afternoon of September 17, the system was organized enough to be declared Tropical Depression Four.
The depression organized steadily that evening and into the morning of September 18. Later that day, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Bonnie and it began to move slowly to the northeast. Like most storms that develop in higher latitudes, Bonnie was embedded in a larger-scale cyclonic circulation at first, which minimized shear (allowing it to develop) and provided weak steering currents. The low shear allowed Bonnie to rapidly develop and a small but well-defined eye formed late that morning. The storm was upgraded to a hurricane later that day while meandering in the open ocean. The intensification rate slowed down after becoming a hurricane. In addition, Bonnie began to slowly move more to the northeast on September 19 as steering currents slowly developed. Bonnie strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale that morning as well, peaking at 105 mph (165 km/h) with a 970 mbar central pressure. The general track and intensity maintained itself throughout the day and into September 20, when the eye became less distinct and Bonnie weakened slightly, although remaining a Category 2 hurricane. Early on September 21, the eye became better defined once again and Bonnie restrengthened slightly while continuing its slow northeast motion. That afternoon, the storm gradually strengthened some more and reached its peak intensity of 110 mph (175 km/h) and a central pressure of 965 mbar, just under Category 3 intensity. Bonnie maintained its strength through the evening and into the early morning of September 22, when it began to weaken very gradually and level off. Bonnie also began to turn more eastward at that point before it became held up by a blocking mid-latitude ridge of high pressure, which stalled the motion.
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