Hurricane Beulah 1967

Across the Caribbean and Yucatán

Beulah developed east of Barbados and entered the Caribbean near Martinique. It strengthened rapidly south of Puerto Rico, where radar captured an entire eyewall replacement cycle: an outer ring of thunderstorms replaced the original inner eyewall.

The hurricane weakened markedly near Hispaniola under wind shear and the influence of land. It passed south of Jamaica, then recovered over the western Caribbean. Beulah crossed Cozumel and the Yucatán Peninsula before entering the Gulf of Mexico.

A Gulf peak before the Rio Grande

Rapid intensification over the Gulf brought Beulah to peak one-minute winds of 140 kt early on 20 September. It weakened before making landfall near the mouth of the Rio Grande later that day, bringing destructive conditions to northeastern Mexico and South Texas.

Beulah's slow movement inland prolonged the rain and produced severe flooding. The storm spawned 115 tornadoes across Texas, setting a tropical-cyclone tornado record that stood until 2004. At least 59 people died along its full path, and damage was estimated at US$234.6 million in 1967 values.

A longer-lived inland circulation

After stalling near Alice, Texas, the weakening circulation turned southwest across Mexico. Later reanalysis extended Beulah's history through 24 September, when it returned to the southern Gulf of Mexico as a tropical depression. That later continuation is included in the archived track.