1966 Atlantic hurricane season
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The 1966 Atlantic hurricane season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. It officially started June 1, 1966, and lasted until November 30, 1966.
The 1966 season was relatively active with twelve named storms, three more than an average normal season. It was also unusually active early in the season, with five named storms forming before the end of July. Notable storms of 1966 include Hurricane Alma, Hurricane Faith, and Hurricane Inez.
Hurricane Alma killed 90, most in Honduras, and proceeded to cause $210 million (1966 dollars) in damage, almost all in Cuba. It eventually moved up the coast of western Florida, made landfalll near Tallahassee, crossed over Georgia, and arrived back over water in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricane Faith was a long-lived storm, maintaining hurricane strength for thirteen days as it travelled the Atlantic. Faith started as a typical Cape Verde-type hurricane in mid-August. After approaching the Lesser Antilles, Faith started turning northward, and eventually its track curved enough to bring it away from North America. Faith continued on as a tropical system, and was declared extratropical only hours before striking the Faroe Islands. The low that was Faith continued over the Scandinavian Peninsula, and was tracked as far as Franz Josef Land.
The worst storm of the season was Hurricane Inez. Inez killed an estimated 1000 and caused over $200 million (1966 dollars) in damage. It tracked up the Greater Antilles, into the Bahamas, across the Florida Keys, approached the Yucatan Peninsula, and after three weeks finally made landfall near Tampico. Inez was the first single storm of record to strike the islands of the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico.
1966 Hurricane names
The following names were used for named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) that formed in the North Atlantic in 1966.
- Alma
- Becky
- Celia
- Dorothy
- Ella
- Faith
- Greta
- Hallie
- Inez
- Judith
- Kendra
- Lois
- Marsha (unused)
- Noreen (unused)
- Orpha (unused)
- Patty (unused)
- Rena (unused)
- Sherry (unused)
- Thora (unused)
- Vicky (unused)
- Wilna (unused)
Note: In post-storm analysis, Kendra was found to actually have been a tropical depression, never reaching storm strength during its lifetime.
See also
External link
- Detailed information on all storms from 1966 (ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/storm_archives/atlantic/prelimat/atl1966/)