Hurricane Inga (1969)

Hurricane Inga

Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Inga on October 5, 1969
Formed	September 20, 1969
Dissipated	October 15, 1969
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 115 mph (185 km/h)
Lowest pressure	964 mbar (hPa); 28.47 inHg
Areas affected	Bermuda
Part of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Inga is the third longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record. The 11th tropical cyclone and 9th named storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Inga developed on September 20 in the central Atlantic and tracked westward. After attaining tropical storm status, the system deteriorated into a depression, but once again intensified several days later. The storm eventually peaked in strength on October 5, with winds corresponding to Category 3 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. Throughout its path, Inga underwent several changes in direction and oscillations in strength, before dissipating on October 15, 25 days after it formed. Despite its duration, Inga caused little damage, and mostly remained over open waters.

On September 20, a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean developed into a tropical depression. On the next morning, the National Hurricane Center reported that the system became a tropical storm while centered about 930 mi (1,500 km) east-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. At the time, the storm was moving towards the west at 14 mph (23 km/h). At the time, Inga was a very small tropical cyclone; gale-force winds extended less than 100 mi (160 km) from the center. However, by September 23, the storm had become disorganized and sprawling. Later that day, Inga weakened back into a tropical depression.

The depression continued west-northwestward, passing north of the Leeward Islands, before drifting northwestward. It once again attained tropical storm status on September 28, while situated well to the east of the Bahamas. Inga continued to intensify, and achieved hurricane status at 0000 UTC on September 30, at which point it turned northeastward. The storm then abruptly, yet gradually, turned towards the south, and ultimately completed a counter-clockwise loop as it bent back westward. Steering currents were weak, and the hurricane continued to proceed slowly. Late on October 3, it turned to the northwest, still as a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. The storm then curved northeastward and intensified to Category 2 status at 0000 UTC on October 5.