Tropical Storm Candy

Tropical Storm Candy

Tropical storm (SSHWS/NWS)
Tropical Storm Candy over Texas on June 23
Formed	June 22, 1968
Dissipated	June 26, 1968
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 70 mph (110 km/h)
Lowest pressure	999 mbar (hPa); 29.5 inHg
Damage	$2.7 million (1968 USD)
Areas affected	Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio
Part of the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Candy produced minor impact in the state of Texas during the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season. The third tropical cyclone of the annual season, it developed from a tropical disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on June 22. Gradual strengthening occurred, with the depression becoming Tropical Storm Candy on the following day. The storm reached its peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h) later that day and made landfall Port Aransas, Texas on June 23. Candy weakened into a tropical depression only hours after moving inland. However, the system remained a designated cyclone until June 26, at which time it completed extratropical transition over the state of Michigan.

Due to rainfall from a trough for several days, combined 11 inches (280 mm) in some areas from Candy itself, flooding occurred in eastern Texas; there was minor damage to crops, roads, and bridges. Agricultural losses alone were slightly less than $2 million (1968 USD). Storm surge along the coast of Texas caused "cuts" on Padre Island. The storm spawned 24 tornadoes, though only one caused significant impact. Candy and its remnants dropped rainfall in 24 other states, reaching as far north as New Hampshire. Overall, the system caused $2.7 million in damage and no fatalities.

Between mid- to late June, satellite imagery indicated above normal amounts of shower and thunderstorm activity over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. By June 22, the system developed into a tropical depression just off the coast of Mexico in the Bay of Campeche. The depression, which initially had an elongated structure, moved north to north-northwestward at roughly 23 mph (37 km/h). On June 22, three separate and distinct circulation centers were noted in weather radar images from Brownsville, Texas. Later that afternoon, a United States Navy reconnaissance aircraft investigated the depression and recorded sustained winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1,001 mbar (29.6 inHg). Therefore, the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Candy at 1800 UTC on that same day.