
Elsewhere in the Lesser Antilles, impacts from the storm were relatively minor. Extensive precautionary measures were taken to mitigate damage, especially in Puerto Rico, where one person died. Damaging winds primarily affected the Virgin Islands where gusts reached 111 mph (179 km/h). The storm finally dissipated near Greenland on September 10.įrom August 26 to August 28, the storm affected several parts of the northernmost Lesser Antilles. Dorian transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on September 7, before striking first Nova Scotia and then Newfoundland with hurricane-force winds on the next day. Dwindling in strength, the hurricane turned to the northeast the next day and made landfall on Cape Hatteras at Category 2 intensity on September 6. After weakening considerably, Dorian began moving northwestward on September 3, parallel to the east coast of Florida. It made landfall in the Bahamas in Elbow Cay, just east of Abaco Island, and again on Grand Bahama several hours later, where it remained nearly stationary for the next day or so. Dorian proceeded to undergo rapid intensification over the following days, before reaching its peak as a Category 5 hurricane with one-minute sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 910 millibars (26.87 inHg) by September 1. The storm moved through the Lesser Antilles and became a hurricane north of the Greater Antilles on August 28. After it ravaged through the Bahamas, Dorian proceeded along the coasts of the Southeastern United States and Atlantic Canada, leaving behind considerable damage and economic losses in those regions.ĭorian developed from a tropical wave on August 24 over the Central Atlantic. The resultant damage to these islands was catastrophic most structures were flattened or swept to sea, and at least 70,000 people were left homeless. Dorian went on to strike Grand Bahama at similar intensity, stalling just north of the territory with unrelenting winds for at least 24 hours. Dorian struck the Abaco Islands on September 1 with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), tying with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the highest wind speeds of an Atlantic hurricane ever recorded at landfall. Dorian was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, the first major hurricane, and the first Category 5 hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. In addition, Dorian surpassed Hurricane Irma of 2017 to become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record outside of the Caribbean Sea. It was also one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic Ocean in terms of 1-minute sustained winds, with those winds peaking at 185 mph (295 km/h). It is also regarded as the worst natural disaster in the Bahamas' recorded history.

Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin.
