The 1968 season

Hurricane Dolly (1968)

Hurricane Dolly reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between August 10, 1968 and August 17, 1968, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Dolly, 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.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 10, 1968 to August 17, 1968
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
985 mb (29.09 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.3
Fastest the center moved
25 kt (29 mph)
Identifier
AL051968

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.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 343 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 3.89 inches (99 mm).

StationTotalPosition
WEST PALM BEACH INTL AP3.89 in (99 mm)26.68N 80.10W
POMPANO BEACH3.60 in (91 mm)26.23N 80.13W
SUMMERVILLE 4W2.82 in (72 mm)32.98N 80.18W
DANIA 4 WNW2.77 in (70 mm)26.07N 80.20W
TITUSVILLE2.60 in (66 mm)28.63N 80.83W
FT LAUDERDALE2.53 in (64 mm)26.10N 80.20W
FT LAUDERDALE EXP STN2.51 in (64 mm)26.08N 80.25W
HIALEAH2.50 in (64 mm)25.82N 80.28W
FAYETTEVILLE PWC2.36 in (60 mm)35.07N 78.87W
STEINHATCHEE 6 ENE2.30 in (58 mm)29.72N 83.30W
ROYAL PALM RS2.27 in (58 mm)25.38N 80.60W
SOUTH MIAMI 5 W2.27 in (58 mm)25.70N 80.35W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 10, 06:0025.9N 80.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 10, 12:0027.0N 80.4W30 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Aug 10, 18:0028.2N 80.6W35 kt1012 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0029.5N 80.4W35 kt1011 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0030.9N 79.9W35 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0031.9N 78.8W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0032.9N 77.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0033.8N 75.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0034.4N 73.5W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0035.0N 71.3W65 kt994 mbHurricane
Aug 12, 18:0035.7N 69.0W75 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0036.4N 66.6W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 06:0037.0N 64.2W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 12:0037.6N 62.0W60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0038.2N 59.9W60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0038.8N 57.5W60 kt999 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0039.3N 54.4W70 kt993 mbHurricane
Aug 14, 12:0039.8N 51.3W75 kt986 mbHurricane
Aug 14, 18:0040.2N 48.7W75 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 00:0040.5N 46.3W75 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 06:0040.7N 44.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 12:0040.8N 41.5W65 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 18:0040.9N 38.9W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0041.3N 36.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0042.0N 34.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0042.5N 31.9W30 ktExtratropical
Aug 16, 18:0042.8N 29.5W30 kt1010 mbExtratropical
Aug 17, 00:0042.8N 27.0W30 ktExtratropical

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.