The 1968 season

Hurricane Abby (1968)

Hurricane Abby reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between June 1, 1968 and June 13, 1968, with a lowest pressure of 992 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Abby, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1968 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
June 1, 1968 to June 13, 1968
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
992 mb (29.29 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.3
Fastest the center moved
11 kt (13 mph)
Identifier
AL011968

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Jun 2, 23:00Guane, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, 54 km away21.9N 84.5W45 kt (52 mph)997 mb
Jun 4, 12:00Bokeelia, FL, 14 km away26.7N 82.3W55 kt (63 mph)992 mb
Jun 6, 22:00Atlantic Beach, FL, 7 km away30.4N 81.4W55 kt (63 mph)996 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,211 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 14.65 inches (372 mm).

StationTotalPosition
HART LAKE14.65 in (372 mm)28.38N 81.18W
TITUSVILLE13.58 in (345 mm)28.63N 80.83W
BITHLO13.54 in (344 mm)28.55N 81.12W
ORLANDO HERNDON AP10.87 in (276 mm)28.55N 81.33W
DOWNTOWN CHARLESTON9.70 in (246 mm)32.77N 79.92W
SULLIVANS ISLAND9.52 in (242 mm)32.76N 79.86W
HOLOPAW 6 SE9.24 in (235 mm)28.05N 81.05W
CAPE KENNEDY AFS9.24 in (235 mm)28.47N 80.55W
COCOA BEACH PATRICK AFB9.07 in (230 mm)28.23N 80.60W
CHARLESTON INTL. AIRPORT8.84 in (225 mm)32.90N 80.04W
JACKSONVILLE CECIL FLD NAS8.59 in (218 mm)30.22N 81.88W
SANFORD8.57 in (218 mm)28.80N 81.27W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jun 1, 06:0017.0N 85.5W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 1, 12:0017.2N 85.5W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 1, 18:0017.8N 85.7W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 2, 00:0018.5N 85.8W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Jun 2, 06:0019.5N 85.7W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 2, 12:0020.5N 85.3W35 ktTropical storm
Jun 2, 18:0021.4N 84.8W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 2, 23:00 landfall21.9N 84.5W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jun 3, 00:0022.1N 84.4W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jun 3, 06:0023.0N 84.0W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Jun 3, 12:0024.0N 83.7W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Jun 3, 18:0024.5N 83.6W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jun 4, 00:0025.0N 83.4W50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 4, 06:0025.8N 82.9W55 kt993 mbTropical storm
Jun 4, 12:00 landfall26.7N 82.3W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jun 4, 18:0027.4N 81.8W45 ktTropical storm
Jun 5, 00:0028.0N 81.1W45 ktTropical storm
Jun 5, 06:0028.2N 80.8W45 ktTropical storm
Jun 5, 12:0028.2N 80.5W55 ktTropical storm
Jun 5, 18:0028.2N 80.2W65 kt994 mbHurricane
Jun 6, 00:0028.3N 80.1W65 ktHurricane
Jun 6, 06:0028.6N 80.4W65 ktHurricane
Jun 6, 12:0029.2N 80.8W60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jun 6, 18:0029.9N 81.2W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jun 6, 22:00 landfall30.4N 81.4W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jun 7, 00:0030.6N 81.5W50 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jun 7, 06:0031.4N 81.8W40 kt999 mbTropical storm
Jun 7, 12:0032.0N 82.0W35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 7, 18:0032.6N 82.1W30 kt1003 mbTropical depression
Jun 8, 00:0033.0N 82.2W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 8, 06:0033.5N 82.2W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 8, 12:0034.1N 82.3W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 8, 18:0034.8N 82.3W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 9, 00:0035.6N 82.1W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 9, 06:0036.3N 81.8W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 9, 12:0036.4N 81.1W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 9, 18:0036.2N 80.3W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 10, 00:0035.9N 79.5W25 ktLow
Jun 10, 06:0035.6N 78.9W25 ktLow
Jun 10, 12:0034.9N 78.7W25 ktLow
Jun 10, 18:0034.2N 78.7W25 ktLow
Jun 11, 00:0033.5N 78.7W25 ktLow
Jun 11, 06:0033.2N 78.7W25 ktLow
Jun 11, 12:0033.3N 78.7W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 11, 18:0033.4N 78.5W25 ktTropical depression
Jun 12, 00:0033.6N 78.2W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 12, 06:0033.8N 78.0W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 12, 12:0034.0N 77.8W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 12, 18:0034.5N 77.3W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 13, 00:0035.2N 76.6W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 13, 06:0035.9N 75.7W30 ktTropical depression
Jun 13, 12:0036.5N 74.8W30 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1968

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.