page_title: 1969 Atlantic hurricane season
section_title: Season summary
hierarchical_section_title: 1969 Atlantic hurricane season / Season summary
caption_attribution_description: English: Surface weather analysis of Hurricane Inga on 3 October 1969.
context_page_description: The 1969 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season since 1933 and is tied with 2019 as the fourth most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, and was also the final year of the most recent positive Atlantic multidecadal oscillation era. The hurricane season officially began on June 1, and lasted until November 30. The season had the highest number of systems reach hurricane status – twelve – in a single season, until that record was surpassed in 2005. The season was above-average despite an El Niño, which typically suppresses activity in the Atlantic Ocean, while increasing tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific Ocean. Activity began with a series of five tropical depressions, the first of which developed on May 29. The third system in that series, Tropical Depression Seven, caused extensive flooding in Cuba and Jamaica in early June. The final in the series formed on July 25, the same day that Tropical Storm Anna developed. Neither the former nor latter caused significant impact on land. Later in the season, Tropical Depression Twenty-Nine caused severe local flooding in the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia in September.
context_section_description: The 1969 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1. Of the twenty-four tropical cyclones that developed in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1969, eighteen of them intensified into tropical storms; this was above the 1950–2000 average of 9.6 named storms. In terms of tropical storms, it was the busiest season since 1933. Twelve of the eighteen named storms reached hurricane status, a record that stood until there were fifteen named storms in 2005. Five of the hurricanes deepened into major hurricanes, which are Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Between 1950 and 2000, there was an average of 2.3 major hurricanes per season. Throughout the season, the U.S. Weather Bureau issued more advisories than in any previous season. Additionally, reconnaissance aircraft were utilized for more flight hours than in any year in the Atlantic basin until that point. The season officially ended on November 30.
  Hurricane Camille made landfall in Mississippi on August 18 as a Category 5 hurricane, becoming one of only four tropical cyclones to strike the United States as a Category 5, other than the Labor Day hurricane in 1935 , Hurricane Andrew in 1992 , and Hurricane Michael in 2018. Project Stormfury had some of its most successful seeding experiments on Hurricane Debbie, which declined in wind speed by 31% on the first day and by 18% of the following day. With a duration of almost 25 days from September 20 to October 15, Hurricane Inga is the third longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the Atlantic, behind only the San Ciriaco hurricane of 1899 and Hurricane Ginger in 1971. On November 24, Hurricane Martha became the first tropical cyclone on record to strike Panama.
  The season was above average despite an El Niño, which typically suppresses tropical cyclogenesis in the Atlantic Ocean while increasing activity in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic upper tropospheric shear line, a semi-permanent feature that extended southeastward into the Caribbean Sea, which enhances outflow from disturbances, remained persistent throughout the season. However, the opposite periphery of the shear line inhibits the divergent outflow of a  disturbance. This may have increased the number of tropical cyclones developing, while causing other storms to remain weak or dissipate over the deep tropics. Additionally, an abnormally strong mid-tropospheric ridge replaced the further south than normal westerlies that deterred tropical cyclone formation in 1968. Five hurricanes and two tropical storms made landfall, causing 535 deaths and $1.5 billion in damage; Tropical Depression Twenty-Nine also resulted in damage.
  Tropical cyclogenesis began early, with two tropical depressions forming on May 29. Neither intensified into a named storm. In June, two additional tropical depressions developed, both of which failed to reach tropical storm intensity. Activity briefly went dormant between June 15 and July 25, when the next depression originated. That same day, the season's first named storm, Anna, developed over the eastern Atlantic. There were five tropical cyclones that formed in the month of August – Blanche, Camille, Debbie, Eve, and Francelia. Camille was the most intense tropical cyclone of the season, peaking as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 900 mbar (27 inHg).
  September was the most active month of the season, with six tropical cyclones, five of which intensified into a tropical storm – Gerda, Holly, Inga, and an unnamed hurricane. Of the five named storms that originated in October, three intensified into hurricanes, including Kara, Laurie, and an unnamed storm. This was well above the currently used 1981–2010 average of two tropical storms and one hurricane in the month of October. Although an unnamed hurricane existed into November, Martha was the only tropical cyclone to originate in that month. Martha, the last storm of the season, dissipated over Panama on November 25.
  The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energ
caption: Weather map featuring Hurricane Inga on October 3
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