Editing Hurricane Janet (section)

==Meteorological history==
{{Storm path|Janet 1955 track.png}}
A weak tropical disturbance was first reported by the [[Air France]] and [[Iberia (airline)|Iberia]] airlines east of the [[Lesser Antilles]] early on September 21. Although it was speculated that the disturbance originated from a [[tropical wave]] near [[Cape Verde]], the [[National Hurricane Center|Weather Bureau]] considered the system too weak to be detected due to a lack of [[weather forecasting|reports]] from the islands.<ref name=mwr>{{cite journal|author=Dunn, Gordon E.|author2=Davis, Walter R.|author3=Moore, Paul L.|title=Hurricanes of 1955|journal=Monthly Weather Review|date=December 1, 1955|volume=83|issue=12|pages=315–326|doi=10.1175/1520-0493(1955)083<0315:HO>2.0.CO;2|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/mwr_pdf/1955.pdf|access-date=January 21, 2013|publisher=American Meteorological Society|location=Weather Bureau Office, Miami, Florida|bibcode=1955MWRv...83..315D|archive-date=May 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507053542/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/mwr_pdf/1955.pdf|url-status=live}} See pp. 321–323.</ref> At 1800 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] on September 21, while it was located {{convert|350|mi}} east-southeast of [[Martinique]],{{Atlantic hurricane best track}}<ref name=Janet10>{{cite news|title=Hurricane Janet Tenth of Season|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kUEpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=j2YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2750,2029661&dq=janet&hl=en|access-date=January 21, 2013|newspaper=The Lewiston Daily Sun|date=September 22, 1955|agency=Associated Press|location=Miami, Florida|page=10|archive-date=December 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224105257/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kUEpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=j2YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2750,2029661&dq=janet&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> the disturbance became sufficiently organized for the Weather Bureau to classify it as Tropical Storm Janet, the tenth named storm of the season.<ref name=Janet10 /> Upon classification, Janet quickly intensified as it moved to the west.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}}<ref name=adv>{{cite report|publisher=United States Department of Commerce|author=United States Weather Bureau|title=Bulletins and Advisories Issued by Weather Bureau Airport Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Weather Bureau Office, Miami, Florida, and Weather Bureau Office, New Orleans, Louisiana on Hurricane "Janet"|type=Preliminary Report|pages=1–14|access-date=January 21, 2013|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/hurricanes/Qc9452j26b81955.pdf|archive-date=October 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026143353/http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/hurricanes/Qc9452j26b81955.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 22, Janet attained hurricane strength, and proceeded to [[Rapid intensification|intensify rapidly]] as it moved westward across the [[Windward Islands]].<ref name=mwr /> By 1200 UTC that day, Janet already attained [[Saffir–Simpson scale|Category 3 hurricane]] strength with [[maximum sustained wind]]s of {{convert|120|mph|abbr=on}}, before stalling in intensification.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}}

Shortly after 1700 UTC on September 22, the [[eye (cyclone)|eye]] of Janet passed south of [[Barbados]] as a Category 1 Hurricane.<ref>{{cite news|title=Remembrance service for Janet's victims |author=Staff writer |url=http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=12859 |newspaper=The Barbados Advocate |date=September 20, 2010|quote=At the service, it was recalled that the natural disaster struck the island on September 22, 1955. The death toll was recorded at 33, with an additional two persons missing at sea. One hundred and fifty people were injured needing hospital treatment. Over 8 000 homes were destroyed and 20,000 people made homeless. |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215141910/http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=12859|archive-date=2013-02-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> A [[Hurricane hunters|reconnaissance flight]] into the hurricane discovered that the Hurricane Janet's eye measured only {{convert|20|mi}} in diameter,<ref name=mwr /> with gale-force winds extending {{convert|120|mi}} away from the center of circulation.<ref name=adv /> The flight also reported a minimum [[barometric pressure]] of {{convert|979|mbar|inHg|lk=on|abbr=on}}. After passing between the islands of [[Grenada]] and [[Carriacou and Petite Martinique|Carriacou]] in the morning hours of September 23, Janet entered an area of unfavorable conditions in the eastern [[Caribbean Sea]].<ref name=mwr /> As a result, the hurricane became disorganized, with winds weakening to {{convert|90|mph|abbr=on}} by 1200 UTC on September 23.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}}<ref name=mwr /> A [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] reconnaissance plane entered the hurricane early on September 24, reporting a lack of organization, and noting an indiscernible center of circulation with weak [[rainband]]s.<ref name="mwr"/> However, the hurricane began to reintensify in favorable conditions, regaining major hurricane strength by 1200 UTC on September 24 and subsequently [[Saffir–Simpson scale|Category 4 hurricane]] intensity by the next day.<ref name=adv />{{Atlantic hurricane best track}}

[[File:Hurricane Janet Barograph Chetumal.png|thumb|Graph of barometer readings in Chetumal|alt=Chart showing a line which remains steady and suddenly drops near the center of the graph, representing a drop in barometric pressure, before rising again and steadying out.]]
While trekking across the central Caribbean Sea, Janet was only slightly larger than while it was moving over the Windward Islands, with gale-force winds extending {{convert|125|mi}} out from the center by September 25.<ref name=adv /> Remaining a Category 4 hurricane as it moved erratically westward across the Caribbean, a reconnaissance flight mission during the night of September 25–26 indicated strong rainbands with frequent [[lightning]] strikes and a well-defined eye, evidence that the storm was once again rapidly intensifying.<ref name=mwr /> As it neared the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] on September 26, Janet began accelerating in forward speed.<ref name=adv /> After the reconnaissance flight ''Snowcloud Five'' was lost while making a penetration into the hurricane's eye, another flight early on September 27 reported a minimum pressure of {{convert|938|mbar|inHg|abbr=on}}, with winds in excess of {{convert|115|mph|abbr=on}} "by a large and incalculable amount."<ref name=mwr /> The hurricane was estimated to have intensified to [[Saffir–Simpson scale|Category 5 hurricane]] intensity—the highest rating on the modern-day [[Saffir–Simpson scale|Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale]]—at 1700 UTC on September 27, shortly before passing over the [[Swan Islands, Honduras|Swan Islands]]. Janet continued to intensify afterwards, eventually reaching its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of {{convert|175|mph|abbr=on}},{{Atlantic hurricane best track}} with gale-force winds having expanded to at least {{convert|250|mi}} away from the center of the hurricane.<ref name=adv /> Janet maintained peak intensity as it made [[landfall (meteorology)|landfall]] in extreme southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, just east of Chetumal, Mexico. In that city, an anemometer at the airport reported winds of {{convert|175|mph|abbr=on}} before being blown away, and a [[barometer]] indicated a minimum barometric pressure of {{convert|914|mbar|inHg|abbr=on}} in the eye of Janet.<ref name=mwr /> At the time, this was the second-lowest pressure ever recorded on land in a landfalling [[Atlantic hurricane]], behind the [[1935 Labor Day hurricane]],<ref name="mwr"/> though Janet was later surpassed by hurricanes [[Hurricane Dean|Dean]] and [[Hurricane Gilbert|Gilbert]], which also made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as Category 5 hurricanes.<ref name=Dean>{{cite report|author=Franklin, James L.|date=January 31, 2008|title=Hurricane Dean|work=Tropical Cyclone Report|type=Preliminary Report|publisher=United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center|access-date=January 21, 2013|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL042007_Dean.pdf|format=PDF|archive-date=May 28, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528050415/http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL042007_Dean.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Once over land, Janet considerably weakened to a [[Category 2 hurricane]] with winds of {{convert|105|mph|abbr=on}}. After crossing the Yucatán Peninsula with a forward speed of {{convert|21|mph|abbr=on}}, the hurricane emerged into the [[Bay of Campeche]] by 1600 UTC on September 28.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}}<ref name="adv" /> The weakened hurricane marginally intensified as it crossed the Bay of Campeche to a secondary peak intensity of {{convert|110|mph|abbr=on}} with a minimum central pressure of {{convert|950|mbar|inHg|abbr=on}}.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}} Janet eventually made its final landfall {{convert|50|mi}} north of the city of [[Veracruz (city)|Veracruz]] by 2200 UTC on September 29 as a Category 2 hurricane. After moving inland, the hurricane became quickly disorganized due to the highly mountainous terrain of [[Mexico]], and as a result the Weather Bureau issued its last advisory on Janet.<ref name=adv /> The weakening system degenerated to tropical storm strength by September 30, and later dissipated over central Mexico by 0600 UTC that day.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}} Janet's remnant circulation contributed to the development of a disturbed area of weather off the western coast of Mexico that would subsequently develop into a [[1955 Pacific hurricane season#Tropical Storm Five|tropical storm]] on October 1.<ref name=adv />