Hurricane Bonnie (2016)

Hurricane Bonnie was one of the earliest Cape Verde-type hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic. Bonnie was the second named storm and the first hurricane of the hyperactive 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. Forming from a tropical wave in late June, Bonnie became a Category 2 hurricane far away from land and did not cause any major impacts.

Meteorological History
On June 24, the NHC began monitoring a tropical wave moving off the coast of Africa, the first of the season. The NHC set their development odds at 10% over the next 48 hours and 40% over the next 5 days, respectively, at their first advisory of the storm. Shortly afterward, the system was designated Invest 92L. The system intensified quickly, prompting the NHC to designate the low pressure system Tropical Depression Two at 5pm on June 26, while it was still located southeast of the Cape Verde Islands. Two was upgraded to tropical storm status at 11pm that night, as winds were increased to 45 mph. By 11pm on June 27, Bonnie was already packing winds of 70 mph. Bonnie then intensified into a Category 1 hurricane early on June 28, which made Bonnie the first hurricane of the season. Bonnie then attained its peak intensity of 100 mph winds and a 969 mph pressure on June 29. Bonnie was originally thought to have remained a category 1 hurricane at peak, but was upgraded to a category 2 hurricane in post-season analysis. On June 30, due to increasing wind shear and cooler waters, Bonnie began to weaken, as it was downgraded to a category 1 hurricane early that day. Later that night, Bonnie was downgraded to a 65 mph tropical storm. Bonnie steadily weakened over the next two days. At its final advisory at 5am on July 2, Bonnie was downgraded to a post-tropical depression. Bonnie dissipated later that day as it merged with another extratropical cyclone.

Impact
Impacts from Bonnie were minimal. For this reason, the name Bonnie was not retired, and was re-used in the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season.