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All storm pages · 1966 Atlantic season

Hurricane Inez 1966

Category 5 hurricane · Atlantic · September 21 to October 11, 1966

No storm in the record came ashore in the Dominican Republic with stronger winds than Inez's 160 mph landfall on September 29, 1966; 21 storms have a landfall record there. Its 125 mph landfall in Guadeloupe on September 27, 1966 ranks tied for the second-strongest of the 8 storms with a landfall record there. It lasted 20.00 days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone, tied for the tenth-longest lifespan of the 1,988 Atlantic storms. The name Inez is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Inez (1966) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N20°N30°N100°W90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°WGuadeloupe, 125 mphDominican Republic, 160 mphHaiti, 115 mphCuba, 115 mphFlorida, 100 mphTamaulipas, 115 mphPeak 160 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 500 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Inez (1966) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160200Sep 22Sep 26Sep 30Oct 4Oct 8mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 9.9°N, 35.1°W
  2. Tropical storm 770 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Hurricane 305 miles northeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  4. Major hurricane 160 miles east-northeast of Roseau, Saint George, Dominica
  5. Landfall Guadeloupe
  6. Peak 80 miles south-southwest of Ponce, Puerto Rico; lowest pressure 927 mb
  7. Landfall Dominican Republic
  8. Landfall Haiti: Category 3, 115 mph
  9. Landfall Cuba: Category 3, 115 mph
  10. Landfall Cuba: Category 1, 75 mph
  11. Landfall Florida: Category 2, 100 mph, 984 mb
  12. Landfall Florida: Category 2, 100 mph, 988 mb
  13. Landfall Florida: Category 2, 100 mph, 988 mb
  14. Landfall Tamaulipas: Category 3, 115 mph, 961 mb
  15. Last record (tropical depression) 50 miles southwest of Rio Verde, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind160 mph · tied 28th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure927 mb · tied 44th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy51.5 · 13th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone20.0 days · tied 10th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

It reached Category 5 with 160 mph winds, one of 44 Atlantic storms to do so since 1851.

It has landfall records in 6 different places: Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Florida and Tamaulipas.

No other storm of the 1966 Atlantic season matched its 160 mph peak; the season had 17 storms.

It generated 38% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1966 storm.

In the 1966 season

04080120160200Inez

Storm 11 of 17 in 1966, hurricane 6 of 7; it formed after Hallie and before Judith. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba1 mi110 mphSeptember 30
Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, Cuba2 mi60 mphOctober 2
Key West, Florida3 mi100 mphOctober 5
Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France3 mi125 mphSeptember 27
Jacmel, Sud-Est, Haiti4 mi115 mphSeptember 29
Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba4 mi65 mphOctober 1
Bayamo, Granma, Cuba5 mi85 mphSeptember 30
Cardenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico6 mi30 mphOctober 11

Every storm within 50 miles of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Similar landfalls in Dominican Republic

Storms whose strongest landfall record in the Dominican Republic came closest to Inez's 160 mph:

All 21 storms with a landfall record in Dominican Republic

Also peaked at 160 mph

Of 16 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: