Hurricane Gladys (1968)

Hurricane Gladys

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Gladys as seen from Apollo 7
Formed	October 13, 1968
Dissipated	October 21, 1968
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 85 mph (140 km/h)
Lowest pressure	965 mbar (hPa); 28.5 inHg
Fatalities	8 direct, 3 indirect
Damage	$18.7 million (1968 USD)
Areas affected	Cuba, Southeastern United States (Florida landfall), Nova Scotia
Part of the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Gladys was the first Atlantic hurricane to be observed each by the Hurricane Hunters, radar imagery, and photographs from space. The seventh named storm and fifth hurricane (including one unnamed hurricane) of the 1968 season, Gladys formed on October 13 in the western Caribbean from a broad disturbance related to a tropical wave. The storm moved north-northwestward, becoming a hurricane before striking Cuba on October 16. Gladys later reached peak winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) just before making landfall near Homosassa on the western coast of Florida on October 19. The hurricane crossed the state and continued northeastward, passing just east of Cape Hatteras on October 20. The next day, Gladys became extratropical and was absorbed by a cold front over Nova Scotia.

In Cuba, the threat of the hurricane prompted widespread evacuations. Gladys caused flash flooding and heavily damaged the tobacco crop. Damage in the country was estimated at $12 million (1968 USD), and there were six deaths. While passing west of the Florida Keys, the hurricane produced strong winds that briefly cut communications to the Dry Tortugas, but damage was minor. Near where Gladys made landfall, winds gusted to 100 mph (160 km/h) and tides reached 6.5 ft (2.0 m) above normal. There was heavy beach erosion and flooding along the coast, while the winds knocked down trees and caused power outages. Across the state, damage was estimated at $6.7 million (1968 USD), and three people were indirectly killed. Heavy rainfall in South Carolina caused minor river flooding. When paralleling just off the coast of North Carolina, Gladys was responsible for breaking the state's worst drought since 1932, and proved more beneficial than the minor storm damage there. Later, Gladys killed two people in Atlantic Canada and caused coastal damage in Prince Edward Island.