Hurricane Abby (1960)

The origins of Hurricane Abby were possibly from a tropical wave that moved in the vicinity of the Lesser Antilles in early July 1960. Ships and a few weather stations on July 9 reported the existence of a tropical cyclone. On July 9, it had operationally been classified as a tropical storm upon formation, though a later analysis revealed that it was only a tropical depression. The depression passed near Barbados early on July 10 before rapidly intensifying into a hurricane. Hurricane Abby accelerated toward the west and made landfall in St. Lucia as a minimal category 1 hurricane. Abby emerged into the Caribbean Sea a few hours later. As it headed generally westward, it also gradually strengthened. By July 11, Hurricane Abby had attained peak intensity as an category 1 hurricane. The intensity of Abby began to gradually level off, though it re-intensified slightly in the Caribbean, before eventually weakening further. Abby was downgraded to a tropical storm on the morning of July 13; it was center roughly south of Kingston, Jamaica at the time. Just six hours thereafter, Abby had maximum sustained winds of only . Abby re-intensified at a relatively quick pace, as it was near hurricane status again when it passed just to the north of Honduras on July 14. Hurricane Celeste lasted for two days in the Pacific before it dissipated on July 22. ==Preparations and impact==

Lesser Antilles There were many watches and warning issued during the passage of Hurricane Abby throughout the Caribbean. Some gale warnings were issued from the Grenadines to Guadeloupe starting on July 10. Around 1600 UTC later that day, a hurricane watch was issued for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Several hours later, the watch was extended to include Dominican Republic and Haiti. All warnings were discontinued later, after the storm passed by. Martinique was near the path of Hurricane Abby, which resulted in some effects. The Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport in Fort-de-France recorded rainfall at nearly , while rain in another village was measured at nearly . Winds on Martinique were also at least tropical storm force during the passage of Hurricane Abby. However, wind gusts on Martinique were around , greater than that which was observed on St. Lucia. The U.S. Weather Bureau later warned citizens in British Honduras and Honduras to "take all precautions for the protection of life and property against dangerous winds and abnormally high seas". Hurricane Abby also produced of rain on Swan Island. On the islands north of Honduras, reports were received until winds reached , and then communications were lost. In Belize City, which was north of where Abby made landfall, wind gusts were reported to . Although Abby nearly made landfall in Honduras and eventually entered Mexico, no effects were reported, but the U.S. Weather Bureau believed that flooding and there were seas of at least above normal. Throughout its path, Abby caused only about $600,000 (1960 USD$,  USD) in damage and six fatalities. ==See also==