Hurricane Gladys (1975)

Hurricane Gladys

Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Gladys as a category three hurricane
Formed	September 22, 1975
Dissipated	October 4, 1975
(Extratropical after October 3)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 140 mph (220 km/h)
Lowest pressure	939 mbar (hPa); 27.73 inHg
Fatalities	None reported
Areas affected	Eastern United States, Newfoundland and Labrador
Part of the 1975 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Gladys was the farthest tropical cyclone from the United States to be observed by radar in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Carla in 1961. The seventh named storm and fifth hurricane of the 1975 Atlantic hurricane season, Gladys developed from a tropical wave while several hundred miles southwest of Cape Verde on September 22. Initially, the tropical depression failed to strengthened significantly, but due to warm sea surface temperatures and low wind shear, it became Tropical Storm Gladys by September 24. Despite entering a more unfavorable environment several hundred miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, Gladys became a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scaleon September 28. Shortly thereafter, the storm reentered an area favorable for strengthening. Eventually, a well-defined eye became visible on satellite imagery.

As the storm tracked to the east of the Bahamas, a curve to the north began, at which time an anticyclone developed atop the cyclone. This subsequently allowed Gladys to rapidly intensify into a Category 4 hurricane, reaching maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (230 km/h) on October 2. Thereafter, Gladys began to weaken and passed very close to Cape Race, Newfoundland before merging with a large extratropical cyclone the next day. Effects from the system along the East Coast of the United States were minimal, although heavy rainfall and rough seas were reported. In Newfoundland, strong winds and light precipitation were observed.