Hurricane Beulah

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Hurricane Beulah

Category 5 hurricane (SSHS)
Hurricane Beulah in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 5.
Formed	September 5, 1967
Dissipated	September 22, 1967
Highest winds	160 mph (260 km/h) (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure	923 mbar (hPa)
Damage	$1.2 billion (2005 dollars)
Fatalities	58 direct
Areas affected	Greater Antilles, Yucatán Peninsula, Northeast Mexico, South Texas
Part of the 1967 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Beulah was a powerful Category 5 hurricane in the 1967 Atlantic hurricane season. It spawned 115 twisters across Texas, caused over $1 billion (2005 USD) in damages, and killed 58 people.

Contents 1 Storm history 2 Impact 2.1 Retirement 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Storm history

A convective area in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) developed into a tropical depression on September 5th east of the Lesser Antilles. It moved slowly through the islands, and on the 7th it became Tropical Storm Beulah. The next day Beulah reached hurricane strength while continuing slowly west-northwestward. It began to rapidly intensify, reaching an initial peak of 150 mph (240 km/h) winds while south of the Mona Passage. It passed south of Hispaniola. Land interaction and upper level shear greatly weakened the hurricane to a 60 mph tropical storm.

Once over the western Caribbean, favorable conditions again returned, letting Beulah strengthen to a 115 mph (185 km/h) major hurricane. On September 16th, Beulah weakened and made landfall near Cozumel, Mexico, as a 100 mph (160 km/h) hurricane. It weakened slightly over land, but once over the Gulf of Mexico, conditions were very favorable. It rapidly intensified, reaching its peak as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph (260 km/h) winds.

However, Beulah weakened greatly before its final landfall as it succumbed to unfavorable environmental conditions. It made landfall just north of the mouth of the Rio Grande as a Category 3 storm [1]. Beulah drifted over Texas, moving southwestward into Mexico where it dissipated on September 22nd.

[edit] Impact

Only one death occurred in Hispaniola, due to proper evacuations, as opposed to Hurricane Inez a year earlier that caused 100 deaths.

In Texas, the highest sustained wind was reported as 136 MPH, recorded in the town of South Padre Island, about 20 miles north of Port Isabel. The lower Rio Grande Valley, the four county region that comprises deep south Texas, was inundated with torrential rains and strong winds. Gusts of over 100 MPH were recorded as far inland as the towns of McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, and Pharr, some fifty miles from the gulf coast. Beulah spawned numerous tornadoes that destroyed homes, commercial property, and inflicted serious damage on the region's agricultural industry. The Rio Grande Valley's citrus industry, based on cultivation of the famous "Ruby Red" grapefruit, was particularly hard hit. Padre Island, just off the Texas gulf coast, suffered significant devastation, and the island's sensitive ecosystem was altered (perhaps permanently in some respects) by the storm. Within a 36 hour period it dropped almost 30 inches of rain in Beeville, Texas.

Hurricane Beulah caused an estimated $1.1 billion (in 2000 dollars) in damage. Sources report either 58 or 59 total deaths from the storm [2].

[edit] Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes

The name Beulah was retired and will never be used for an Atlantic hurricane again; it was replaced with Beth in 1971.

[edit] See also

• List of notable tropical cyclones
• List of notable Atlantic hurricanes
• List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

[edit] External links

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