hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1968 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 13 storms · 1 Jun 1968–25 Nov 1968

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY46.6
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1968 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 13 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalAbby: 1 Jun–13 Jun, peak 65 kt, Category 1Brenda: 18 Jun–25 Jun, peak 70 kt, Category 1Candy: 22 Jun–25 Jun, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormDolly: 10 Aug–16 Aug, peak 75 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 26 Aug–31 Aug, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 10 Sep–11 Sep, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormEdna: 13 Sep–17 Sep, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 14 Sep–25 Sep, no US-agency windUnnamed: 18 Sep–19 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionFrances: 26 Sep–29 Sep, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 25 Sep–28 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionGladys: 13 Oct–20 Oct, peak 85 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 24 Nov–25 Nov, no US-agency wind

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Abby–65Cat 19921,880
Brenda–70Cat 19902,550
Candy–60Tropical storm9952,110
Dolly–75Cat 19852,930
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—490
Unnamed–55Tropical storm9972,380
Edna–60Tropical storm1012950
Unnamed–—Unclassified—2,830
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—700
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1004610
Frances–50Tropical storm10011,590
Gladys–85Cat 29772,490
Unnamed–—Unclassified—280

13 storms with an IBTrACS 1968 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 1 Jun 1968, last 25 Nov 1968.

Tropical storms9

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes4

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)0

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormGladys

85 kt · 98 mph / 157 km/h

Lowest pressure977 hPa

Gladys, 19 Oct 1968

Longest track record12.3 days

Abby, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind2

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1968 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 4 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 9 tropical storms, with 0 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season?

Gladys, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 85 kt (Category 2) on 19 Oct 1968, 00:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 977 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1968?

None. No storm in the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 1 Jun 1968 and the last on 25 Nov 1968, from 13 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season?

Abby, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 5 Jun 1968, 18:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 1968 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology