1966 North Atlantic hurricane season
Hurricane Inez 1966
Hurricane Inez followed a complicated three-week route across the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in 1966. Its repeated landfalls brought destruction from Guadeloupe to Mexico, with the heaviest loss of life on Hispaniola.
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161 mph
Sep 28, 1966 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Guadeloupe and Hispaniola
Inez developed from an African tropical wave and crossed the Atlantic before striking Guadeloupe on 27 September. It damaged thousands of homes and devastated banana and sugar crops, leaving about 10,000 people homeless. Forty deaths were reported on the island.
The hurricane reached peak one-minute winds of 140 kt on 28 September and struck the Dominican Republic's Barahona Peninsula near that strength the next day. It continued across southern Haiti, where flash flooding and destructive winds killed hundreds of people and left about 60,000 homeless.
An unexpected return toward Florida
After weakening over Hispaniola, Inez strengthened again before reaching southeastern Cuba on 30 September. It moved slowly across Cuba, then emerged near the Bahamas. Forecasters expected it to continue northeast, but the hurricane stalled and turned back west-southwest as high pressure strengthened to its north.
Inez crossed the Florida Keys from Key Largo toward Key West and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Its unusual change of course complicated warnings and preparations. In the Bahamas, prolonged rain and high tides caused flooding; hurricane-force winds affected the Keys.
Across the Gulf to Mexico
The hurricane brushed the northern Yucatán coast and regained major-hurricane strength over the Gulf. After briefly threatening Texas, it turned southwest and made its final landfall near Tampico on 10 October. Inez weakened rapidly over Mexico's high terrain and dissipated the following day.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Inez in brief
What was Hurricane Inez's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 28, 1966, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Hurricane Inez?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 28, 1966, 06:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Hurricane Inez's lowest pressure?
927 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 28, 1966, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Hurricane Inez occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 21, 1966, 12:00 PM UTC to Oct 11, 1966, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 21, 1966, 12:00 PM UTC to Oct 11, 1966, 12:00 PM UTC.
Where did Hurricane Inez form?
In the North Atlantic basin, in the 1966 season. Its first archived position is 9.9°N, 35.1°W on Sep 21, 1966, 12:00 PM UTC.
Did Hurricane Inez make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 5 recorded positions; the strongest is 161 mph on Sep 29, 1966, 02:00 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology