Surface weather analysis of Hurricane Janet near peak intensity on September 28, 1955
Meteorological history
Formed
September 21, 1955
Dissipated
September 30, 1955
Category 5 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds
175 mph (280 km/h)
Lowest pressure
≤914 mbar (hPa); ≤26.99 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities
1,023+ direct
Damage
$65.8 million (1955 USD)
Areas affected
Barbados, Windward Islands, British Honduras, Yucatán Peninsula, mainland Mexico
IBTrACS
Part of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season
Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. Janet was also the first named storm to cause 1,000 deaths and the first Category 5 storm name to be retired. The eleventh tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and fourth major hurricane of the year,[nb 1] Janet formed from a tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles on September 21. Moving westward across the Caribbean Sea, Janet fluctuated in intensity, but generally strengthened before reaching its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 175 mph (282 km/h). The intense hurricane later made landfall at that intensity near Chetumal, Mexico on September 28. After weakening over the Yucatán Peninsula, it moved into the Bay of Campeche, where it slightly strengthened before making its final landfall near Veracruz on September 29. Janet quickly weakened over Mexico's mountainous terrain before dissipating on September 30.
In its developmental stages, Janet caused $7.8 million in damage to the Lesser Antilles and 189 deaths in the Grenadines and Barbados.[nb 2] While Janet was in the central Caribbean Sea, a reconnaissance aircraft flew into the storm and was lost with all hands. This remains the only such loss which has occurred in association with an Atlantic hurricane. A Category 5 upon landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula, Janet caused severe devastation in areas of Quintana Roo and British Honduras. Only five buildings in Chetumal, Mexico remained intact after the storm, and an estimated 500 deaths occurred in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. At Janet's second landfall near Veracruz, significant river flooding ensued, worsening effects caused by Hurricanes Gladys and Hilda earlier in the month. The floods left thousands of people stranded and killed at least 326 people in the Tampico area, leading to the largest Mexican relief operation ever executed by the United States.
Janet's landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on the Yucatán Peninsula was the first recorded instance of a storm of such intensity in the Atlantic making landfall on a continental mainland; prior to Janet, landfalls of Category 5 intensity were only known to have taken place on islands.[2] Janet's minimum barometric pressure, recorded in Chetumal, was at the time the second-lowest-recorded pressure on land associated with a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. At least 1,023 deaths were attributed to Hurricane Janet, as well as $65.8 million in damages.
^Goldenburg, Stan (June 1, 2012). "A3) What is a super-typhoon? What is a major hurricane? What is an intense hurricane?". Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). 4.5. United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
^National Climatic Data Center. "Category 5 MONSTERS!". United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on July 10, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
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