page_title: Hurricane Bonnie (1998)
section_title: Aftermath and observation
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Bonnie (1998) / Aftermath and observation
caption_attribution_description: The cloud structure of Hurricane Bonnie, 1998
context_page_description: Hurricane Bonnie was a major hurricane that made landfall in North Carolina, United States, inflicting severe crop damage. The second named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, Bonnie developed from a tropical wave that emerged off the coast of Africa on August 14. The wave gradually developed, and the system was designated a tropical depression on August 19. The depression began tracking towards the west-northwest, and became a tropical storm the next day. On August 22, Bonnie was upgraded to a hurricane, with a well-defined eye. The storm peaked as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, and around the same time, the storm slowed and turned more towards the north-northwest. A large and powerful cyclone, Bonnie moved ashore in North Carolina early on August 27, slowing as it turned northeast. After briefly losing hurricane status, the storm moved offshore and regained Category 1-force winds, although it weakened again on entering cooler waters.
  Fearing a major hurricane strike, coastal locations from Florida to Virginia performed extensive preparations in advance of the storm.
context_section_description: Following the hurricane in North Carolina, 10 counties were declared federal disaster areas, while 30 counties became eligible for public and individual assistance. Shelters were opened in 11 counties, and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport briefly canceled all flights. To remove the tens of thousands of tires that washed ashore, hundreds of inmates from state prisons were sent to the Bouge Banks. Some of the tires were buried in sand, and could only be removed during low tide. About 700 more state prisoners were sent around the state to clear debris, and 39 inmate crews were deployed to help farmers salvage the severely damaged tobacco fields. In South Carolina, Horry County was declared a federal disaster area due to the damage. In Virginia, the cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach became eligible for individual and public assistance programs. After the storm's departure, a thunderstorm temporarily halted power restoration by Virginia Power company crews. Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore allowed for over $11 million (1998 USD) in state and federal funds to help five cities recover. The storm also contributed to a 13.6% decline in home sales across the southern United States during the month of August by "discouraging potential home buyers" in coastal areas.
  Both during and after Hurricane Bonnie's onslaught, analysis of the storm was extensive; it was deemed "the most observed hurricane in history." When examined with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite imagery, it was discovered that peak cloud tops surrounding the eyewall rose 59,000 ft (18,000 m) into the atmosphere, twice as tall as Mount Everest. This was the first time that TRMM had observed such a tropical cyclone structure, according to co-developer of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, Bob Simpson. The storm was also used for collection of tropical cyclone research data. For the first time in the Atlantic, a fleet of aircraft investigated the storm's upper-levels, while other aircraft flew into the low- and middle-levels. A record of over 500 parachute sensors were dropped into the storm while it was active. Each costing $600 (1998 USD), they sent storm data to research centers via Global Positioning System.
  During the storm, the Weather Channel web site experienced substantially increased traffic. Up from an average of three million views per day, 10 million page views on August 26 led to slow download times on the website. On seven major weather providers, page views increased by 123% from August 24 – August 26, compared to an equal period of time during the previous week.
caption: The unusually tall cloud structure associated with Hurricane Bonnie
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