1968 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season
first storm formed=June 1, 1968
last storm dissipated=October 21, 1968
strongest storm=Gladys - 965 mbar (28.50 inHg), 85 mph (140 km/h)
total storms=8
major storms=0
total da
USD)
$54.5 million (2005 USD)
total fatalities=10
basin=Atlantic hurricane
five seasons=1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 The 1968 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1968, and lasted until November 30, 1968. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin.

Three storms formed this June, making it one of the most active on record. Despite the early season activity, the season ended relatively quietly, with 8 named storms, and 0 major hurricanes, which goes to show that early season activity has no correlation to the entire season. Hurricane Gladys was the costliest storm of the season, causing more than $6 million (1968 USD) in damage as it moved northward through Florida, Cuba, and North Carolina.

torms

Hurricane Abby

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl


Track=Abby 1968 track.pngFormed=June 1
Dissipated=June 13
1-min winds=65
Pressure=965A mid-tropospheric trough persisted over the western Caribbean Sea in late May. When a weak cold front moved into the area, it generated convection, gaining enough organization to be called a tropical depression on June 1. The initial circulation was not embedded within the convection, but as it moved slowly north-northeastward, it was able to strengthen and become better organized, reaching tropical storm strength on the 2nd. It crossed the western tip of Cuba, and upon reaching the southeast Gulf of Mexico Abby achieved hurricane strength. It weakened to a tropical storm before hitting Punta Gorda, Florida on the 4th, and moved across the state. Once it reached the western Atlantic, building high pressure to its east forced Abby northwestward. On the 6th, it again reached the Florida coast, this time near Jacksonville. Abby weakened to a tropical depression as it moved over Georgia, and over the next 6 days, it wandered around the Carolinas, finally dissipating on the 13th east of Virginia.

While Abby caused heavy rain over Florida, the rain was almost entirely beneficial, as Florida was suffering from a heavy drought. Total damage in the United States is estimated around $450,000 (1968 USD ($16.65 million 2005 USD)) and the storm indirectly caused 6 deaths.

Hurricane Brenda

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Track=Brenda 1968 track.pngFormed=June 17
Dissipated=June 26
1-min winds=65
Pressure=990Similar to Abby's origins, Brenda began from a mid-level trough persisting over Florida, forming a tropical depression on June 17 south of Florida. The cyclone moved northward across the peninsula for 60 hours, and upon reaching the Atlantic, reached favorable conditions. Shear was low and water temperatures were warm enough, allowing the depression to become a tropical storm on the 21st and a hurricane on the 23rd. Brenda wouldn't maintain its intensity for very long, and on the 24th, dry air and shear disrupted the system. Brenda weakened to a tropical storm on the 25th, and became extratropical on June 26 over the open Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Candy

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Track=Candy 1968 track.pngFormed=June 22
Dissipated=June 26
1-min winds=60
Pressure=999Following a similar pattern to the previous two storms, a mid-level low formed over Texas, gradually reaching the surface and warming. It became a tropical depression on June 22 over the western Gulf of Mexico. As it moved quickly northward, became Tropical Storm Candy on the 23rd, the third storm of June. Just after reaching its peak intensity of convert|70|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on Candy moved inland over southeast Texas, causing heavy flooding, crop damage, and tornadoes. Tropical Depression Candy continued to move quickly northeast, becoming extratropical on the 26th over Ohio and dissipating that day. Candy caused $2.7 million in damage ($15 million in 2005 USD).

Hurricane Dolly

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Track=Dolly 1968 track.pngFormed=August 10
Dissipated=August 17
1-min winds=70
Pressure=985After such an active June, the tropics remained quiet until August 10, when an upper-level low combined with a tropical wave developed a tropical depression over the western Bahamas. It moved over Florida briefly, moving northeastward by nightfall. The depression struggled to strengthen, due to a frontal boundary to its west attempting to absorb it. The depression won out, becoming Tropical Storm Dolly on the 12th and a hurricane on the 13th. It became cut off from the moist tropical air that night, weakening to a tropical storm. Dolly found her "second wind" when baroclinic processes allowed her to become a hurricane again, this time at nearly 40°N. Dolly finally succumbed to the cold environment on the 16th, becoming a tropical depression and later extratropical.

Tropical Depression Five

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Formed=August 28
Dissipated=August 31
1-min winds=30Tropical Depression Five formed on August 28 in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. It didn't have a chance to strengthen, as it moved over Florida that night. It remained over the peninsula until the 31st when it dissipated. The storm caused convert|15|in|mm of rain and spawned tornadoes.

Tropical Depression Six

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Formed=September 9
Dissipated=September 11
1-min winds=30Tropical Depression Six formed on September 9 off the coast of South Carolina. It moved quickly northeastward, reaching the coast of Long Island on the 11th. It is possible this tropical depression reached tropical storm strength, as there were reports of gale force winds.

Tropical Storm Edna

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Track=Edna 1968 track.pngFormed=September 11
Dissipated=September 19
1-min winds=55
Pressure=1005The precursor to Tropical Storm Edna was a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa. Immediately upon reaching the tropical Atlantic, it became a tropical depression. It likely achieved tropical storm strength on September 14, but it was not until the 15th when it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Edna. An upper level cold core trough weakened it to a tropical depression on the 18th. Edna dissipated the next day without affecting land.

ubtropical Storm One

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Type=subtropical
Track=1968 Atlantic subtropical storm 1 track.pngFormed=September 14
Dissipated=September 23
1-min winds=70
Pressure=979A subtropical depression formed in the western Atlantic on September 14. It moved eastward without strengthening, but as it turned northwest, it reached storm strength. The subtropical cyclone headed east-southeastward, reaching hurricane intensity (though it was not a "hurricane" because it was not tropical) before becoming extratropical on the 23rd.

Tropical Storm Frances

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Track=Frances 1968 track.pngFormed=September 23
Dissipated=September 30
1-min winds=50
Pressure=1001A midtropospheric trough developed convection near a circulation over the Bahamas. It became a tropical depression on September 23, and after four days of moving northeastward, it became Tropical Storm Frances. On the 27th, Frances reached her peak of convert|60|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on while north of Bermuda, but an upper level low weakened the storm on the 29th, leaving behind an extratropical depression.

Hurricane Gladys

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl

---

Track=Gladys 1968 track.pngFormed=October 13
Dissipated=October 21
1-min winds=75
Pressure=965Hurricane Gladys developed from a tropical wave on October 13 in the western Caribbean Sea. It drifted northwestward, reaching tropical storm strength on the 15th. On the 16th, it became a hurricane just before crossing Cuba. It maintained that intensity as it crossed the island and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Because Gladys's circulation was mostly over land, it was only an 80 mph (Category 1) hurricane at its Homosassa, Florida landfall on the 19th. After moving across Florida, Gladys paralleled the Carolinas, reaching its peak of convert|75|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on before becoming extratropical on the 21st near Nova Scotia. It caused $6.7 million (1968 USD) in damage, almost all of it in Florida.

Tropical Depression Ten

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=Atl
Formed=November 24
Dissipated=November 25
1-min winds=30The last tropical depression of the season formed on November 24 over the Bahamas. This late season cyclone moved northeastward, passing near Bermuda on the 25th before becoming absorbed by a large developing extratropical low to its northwest. It is possible that this tropical depression reached tropical storm strength.

torm names

The following names were used for named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) that formed in the North Atlantic in 1968.

The list is mostly the same as the 1964 season, save for Candy, Dolly, Edna, Frances, Hannah, and Ingrid, which replaced Cleo, Dora, Ethel, Florence, Hilda, and Isbell (although Hilda was reused in 1973; and Ethel, Florence, and Isbell were not retired). Storms were named Candy and Dolly for the first time in 1968. Names that were not assigned are marked in tcname unused.

Retirement

No names were retired this season. However, the name Edna was later retroactively retired because of the Hurricane Edna of the 1954 season, and has not been used since.

See also

*List of Atlantic hurricanes
*List of Atlantic hurricane seasons

External links

* [http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1968.pdf Monthly Weather Review]