page_title: Hurricane Betsy (1956)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Betsy (1956) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale TD TS 1 2 3 4 5 English: Hurricane Betsy (1956) track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: Hurricane Betsy, known as Hurricane Santa Clara in Puerto Rico, was the first North Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in Puerto Rico in 24 years. The third tropical cyclone of the 1956 Atlantic hurricane season, Betsy developed from a tropical wave on August 9 to the east of the Lesser Antilles. It rapidly developed into a 120 mph major hurricane before striking Guadeloupe. There, Betsy heavily damaged 1000 houses and left severe crop destruction, and there were 18 deaths in the territory. As Betsy continued into the northeastern Caribbean, it capsized a ship, killing its crew of two.
  On August 12, Betsy struck southeastern Puerto Rico and quickly crossed the island. Damage was heaviest where it moved ashore and in the territory's central portion, and throughout Puerto Rico there were 15,023 houses that were destroyed by Betsy. Multiple locations reported heavy crop damage, including Camuy which reported a complete loss of the corn crop. Hurricane Betsy was the first hurricane to be observed from the San Juan radar, and also resulted in the first hurricane warning on the island to be released on television.
context_section_description: Before Betsy's formation, the northeastward shift of the Azores High allowed for an increase in atmospheric instability across the tropical Atlantic, which made conditions for tropical cyclogenesis more favorable in early August. A tropical wave exited the west coast of Africa on August 4. On August 9, a ship reported rough seas and winds of force 10 on the Beaufort scale. On that basis, it is estimated that Tropical Storm Betsy developed that day about 835 mi (1345 km) east of Barbados. The next day, a Hurricane Hunters flight observed winds of 120 mph (190 km/h), which indicated that Betsy had intensified significantly overnight. The flight reported how small the hurricane was, including a 10 mi (16 km) wide eye. After maintaining that intensity for about 24 hours, Betsy began weakening, moving directly over Marie-Galante and southern Guadeloupe. It entered the eastern Caribbean with winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) before it began a track to the west-northwest.
  On August 12, Hurricane Betsy passed about 30 mi (48 km) south of Saint Croix before striking southeastern Puerto Rico. This made Betsy the first hurricane to strike the island since the 1932 San Ciprian hurricane. It crossed the central portion of the island, and the structure deteriorated and the eye became difficult to locate as Betsy crossed the highest mountains. On two occasions the eye dropped slightly to the south because of the mountains. The eye became well-defined as it approached the coast, and Betsy emerged on the northwest coast near Camuy at a similar intensity as when it moved ashore. The hurricane re-intensified as it moved toward the Bahamas, reaching winds of 110 mph (180 km/h) on August 13. That day, the eye passed near Grand Turk Island and San Salvador Island. By that time, the storm had increased in size; the Hurricane Hunters reported that the gale-force winds extended 125 mi (201 km) to its north. The eye reformed on August 14, becoming well-organized and attaining a minimum barometric pressure of 960 mbar (28 inHg). The next day, Betsy turned to the northeast due to an approaching trough. Despite beginning a weakening trend, the pressure dropped further to 954 mbar (28.2 inHg) on August 17. The eye became increasingly poorly defined, and Betsy weakened to a tropical storm on August 18 to the south of Nova Scotia. Turning to the east, it became extratropical later that day, eventually dissipating on August 20.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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