1967 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1967 Atlantic hurricane season was an active Atlantic hurricane season overall, producing 13 nameable storms, of which 6 strengthened into hurricanes. The season officially began on June 1, 1967, and lasted until November 30, 1967. These dates, adopted by convention, historically describe the period in each year when most tropical cyclogenesis occurs in the Atlantic Ocean. The season's first system, Tropical Depression One, formed on June 10, and the last, Tropical Storm Heidi, lost tropical characteristics on November 2.

Hurricane Beulah, the strongest storm of the season, and only major hurricane (Category 3 or above on the Saffir–Simpson scale), was also the most damaging. It caused 59 deaths and $235 million in damage (1967 USD) along its two-week-long path. Beulah formed on September 5 and soon after crossed southern Martinique into the Caribbean Sea. On the island, it dropped of rainfall in Les Anses-d'Arlet, causing severe flooding. Widespread evacuations occurred along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic due to fears of a repeat of Hurricane Inez from the previous year. After brushing the south coast of Hispaniola, the hurricane weakened and re-intensified, striking the Yucatán Peninsula and later near the United States/Mexico border. There, it caused severe river flooding, killing 34 people in the two countries.

Hurricanes Arlene and Chloe, as well as several tropical depressions, originated from tropical waves that left the coast of Africa. Chloe lasted for nearly 17 days, eventually dissipating over France after wrecking a ship offshore northern Spain, killing 14 people. Hurricane Doria co-existed with Beulah and Chloe, taking an unusual trajectory over the eastern United States; it killed three people in a boating accident offshore New Jersey. In late September, Tropical Storm Edith was a minimal storm that moved through the Lesser Antilles without serious impact. Hurricane Fern killed three people when it struck Mexico north of Tampico.

Season summary

thumb|upright=.90|Composite of [[ESSA-2 photographs showing hurricanes Beulah (lower left), Doria (left center), and Chloe (upper right), on September 17]]

The 1967 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, and ran through November 30. These dates historically describe the period in each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclogenesis, the process in which a tropical cyclone develops, resulted mainly from tropical waves, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and decaying frontal systems. There were 30 tropical waves that exited the west coast of Africa at Dakar, Senegal; another 20 tropical disturbances originated offshore the Mid-Atlantic states, and 7 disturbances derived from cold-core lows. A total of 18 tropical depressions (tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph (62 km/h) or less) formed during the season, 13 of which developed into named storms. Of those, six strengthened into hurricanes, while 1 system reached major hurricane intensity. This was the first season that non-developing tropical depressions were included into HURDAT, the National Hurricane Center—managed tropical cyclone database.

thumb|left|upright=.90|Satellite timelapse captured by the [[ESSA-5 satellite featuring Hurricane’s Beulah, Chloe, and Doria throughout September.]]

The season got off to a slow start, with the first operationally named storm, Arlene, not forming until August 28. The latency was caused by a stronger than normal ridge across the Atlantic Ocean, which suppressed convective activity across the basin and prevented the formation of strong low pressure areas. Conditions were not favorable for strengthening, with cool air and minimal outflow, although the cyclone acquired gale-force winds by 12:00 UTC on August 16, becoming a subtropical storm.

Hurricane Beulah

A tropical wave exited the coast of Africa on August 28. Moving westward, it organized into Tropical Depression Seven at 12:00 UTC on September 5, while located about northeast of Barbados. On September 7, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Beulah, which crossed into the Caribbean Sea that day. After continued strengthening, Beulah became a hurricane on September 8, and two days later reached an initial peak of to the southwest of Puerto Rico. An anticyclone over the Bahamas turned the hurricane westward, as changing upper-level conditions from a passing trough to the north, as well as land interaction with Hispaniola, greatly weakened Beulah. The track shifted to the southwest and weakened further to a tropical storm. Flooding rains damaged roads, bridges, and houses on Martinique and neighboring Saint Lucia. In the Lesser Antilles, Beulah caused $7.65 million in damage and 17 deaths. The storm caused minor damage and one death in southern Puerto Rico. After the severe impacts of Hurricane Inez a year prior, about 200,000 people evacuated the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. There, Beulah left heavy damage to roads, bridges, and the banana and coffee crops, but the evacuations led to a low death toll of two in the nation. Minor water damage occurred along Haiti's southern Tiburon Peninsula. On Cozumel, Beulah's strong winds destroyed 40% of the houses and heavily damaged many hotels, severely impacting the tourism industry. Along the northern Yucatán Peninsula, the winds wrecked a clock tower in Tizimín, killing five. The rains caused record river flooding, with a peak crest of along the San Antonio River at Goliad. In northeastern Mexico, Beulah killed 19 people, left 100,000 people homeless, and caused $26.9 million in damage. In Texas, damage reached $200 million, and there were 15 deaths, 5 of whom related to a then-record-breaking tornado outbreak that generated 115 tornadoes. A nearby ship reported waves on September 27, potentially indicating stronger winds during periods without meteorological observations, although unfavorable conditions prevented initial development. It was not until 12:00 UTC that Edith attained tropical storm force winds. Twelve hours later, the storm reached peak winds of , a trend that spurred hurricane watches from Dominica northward through the Leeward Islands. The storm failed to intensify due to its proximity to a cold upper-level trough and releasing too much latent heat. On September 30, Edith passed over Dominica as a weakened tropical storm and dissipated the next day over the eastern Caribbean Sea. It caused gusty winds and minor damage during its passage through the Lesser Antilles. As the system organized more, it tracked northward, although a ridge to the north steered the nascent system to the west. On October 2, the British ship Plainsman observed gale-force winds, prompting the NHC to upgrade the depression to Tropical Storm Fern. The rains caused additional flooding along the Pánuco River, which became swollen during Hurricane Beulah two weeks prior. Three people drowned in the floodwaters. Damage was minor related to Fern.

Tropical Storm Ginger

An area of convection developed off the west coast of Africa following the westward passage of Tropical Depression Sixteen. On October 5, it is estimated that Tropical Depression Seventeen developed from this system, At the time, the storm was located about north-northwest of Dakar, Senegal, well east of 35° W where the NHC began issuing formal tropical cyclone advisories. Instead, the Rota, Spain Naval Fleet Station issued gale warnings in relation to the storm. Later on October 6, it was estimated that Ginger reached peak winds of and a minimum barometric pressure of . On October 7, the storm curved west-southwestward and quickly weakened into a tropical depression. Ginger dissipated on October 8 to the north of Cabo Verde.

October tropical storm

A tropical wave moved through the northeastern Caribbean on October 10, with a large area of associated thunderstorms. The wave interacted with a stalled frontal boundary, developing a broad circulation by October 13 to the northeast of the Bahamas. A day later, the system developed into a subtropical storm – its classification was because the system was co-located with a trough. There was another area of convection along the front northeast of the subtropical storm, which accelerated northeastward. Meanwhile, the subtropical storm turned westward. It had a small circulation with thunderstorms sheared north of the center, which gradually became more organized. On October 17, an approaching front turned the storm northward and later northeastward. On the same day, the subtropical storm transitioned into a tropical cyclone. On the next day, the storm attained peak winds of , before it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over Atlantic Canada, where it was ultimately absorbed by the cold front on October 19. with the strongest winds near the center, spurring gale warnings for Bermuda. However, winds there only reached about during the storm's passage.

The NHC initially anticipated that Heidi would become extratropical within two days. Early on October 23, the agency upgraded the storm to hurricane status about 105 mi (175 mi) southeast of Bermuda. Heidi moved quickly eastward with the approaching trough until October 25, when a building ridge caused the hurricane to move slowly northeastward in an area of light wind shear. Early on October 26, Heidi attained peak winds of about halfway between Bermuda and the Azores. After stalling on October 29, Heidi turned westward and weakened to tropical storm status. Another approaching trough turned the storm back to the northeast on October 31. Later that day, Heidi started losing tropical characteristics, transitioning into an extratropical cyclone by November 1. Later that day, the remnants of Heidi were absorbed into the prevailing weather conditions of the north Atlantic Ocean. Storms were named Chloe, Doria, Fern, Ginger and Heidi for the first time in 1967.

{| width=80%

Arlene
Beulah
Chloe
Doria
Edith
Fern
Ginger

Heidi

Retirement

The name Beulah was retired following the 1967 season, and will never be used for an Atlantic tropical cyclone again. It was replaced with Beth for the 1971 season.

Season effects

This is a table of all of the tropical cyclones that formed in the 1967 Atlantic hurricane season. It includes their name, duration, peak classification and intensities, areas affected, damage, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 1967 USD.

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Notes

External links

Monthly Weather Review