Hurricane Able (1950)
Hurricane Able reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 12, 1950 and August 24, 1950, with a lowest pressure of 953 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Able, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1950 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- August 12, 1950 to August 24, 1950
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 953 mb (28.14 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 26.1
- Fastest the center moved
- 34 kt (39 mph)
- Identifier
- AL011950
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.
Landfall
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 16:00 | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 11 km away | 44.6N 63.7W | 65 kt (75 mph) |
Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,836 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 6.89 inches (175 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| BEECHWOOD | 6.89 in (175 mm) | 42.23N 70.82W |
| SHRUB OAK | 6.58 in (167 mm) | 41.33N 73.83W |
| NEWPORT RIVER | 6.47 in (164 mm) | 40.47N 77.12W |
| WELLSBORO | 6.35 in (161 mm) | 41.73N 77.30W |
| COHASSET | 6.08 in (154 mm) | 42.23N 70.80W |
| EAST BRANCH | 5.98 in (152 mm) | 41.40N 73.58W |
| SUSQUEHANNA | 5.90 in (150 mm) | 41.93N 75.60W |
| EAGLES MERE | 5.67 in (144 mm) | 41.40N 76.58W |
| RIVERDALE | 5.65 in (144 mm) | 38.97N 76.93W |
| ASHLAND | 5.59 in (142 mm) | 42.25N 71.47W |
| TITICUS | 5.41 in (137 mm) | 41.33N 73.65W |
| ROCKVILLE | 5.40 in (137 mm) | 41.87N 72.43W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 00:00 | 17.1N 55.5W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 12, 06:00 | 17.7N 56.3W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 12, 12:00 | 18.2N 57.4W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 12, 18:00 | 19.0N 58.6W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 13, 00:00 | 20.0N 60.0W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 13, 06:00 | 20.7N 61.1W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 13, 12:00 | 21.3N 62.2W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 13, 18:00 | 22.0N 63.2W | 55 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 14, 00:00 | 22.7N 63.8W | 60 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 14, 06:00 | 23.1N 64.6W | 60 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 14, 12:00 | 23.4N 65.4W | 60 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 14, 18:00 | 23.9N 66.0W | 65 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 15, 00:00 | 24.4N 66.2W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 15, 06:00 | 24.8N 66.5W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 15, 12:00 | 25.2N 66.8W | 70 kt | 987 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 15, 18:00 | 25.5N 67.5W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 16, 00:00 | 25.7N 68.1W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 16, 06:00 | 25.7N 68.7W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 16, 12:00 | 25.5N 69.3W | 80 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 16, 18:00 | 25.4N 69.8W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 17, 00:00 | 25.4N 70.6W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 17, 06:00 | 25.4N 71.5W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 17, 12:00 | 25.5N 72.6W | 100 kt | 962 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 17, 18:00 | 25.9N 73.3W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 00:00 | 26.7N 73.9W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 06:00 | 27.3N 74.4W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 12:00 | 27.9N 74.9W | 100 kt | 958 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 18, 18:00 | 28.4N 75.3W | 105 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 19, 00:00 | 29.1N 75.5W | 105 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 19, 06:00 | 29.9N 75.5W | 105 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 19, 12:00 | 30.7N 75.5W | 105 kt | 953 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 19, 18:00 | 31.7N 75.5W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 00:00 | 32.8N 75.2W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 06:00 | 34.4N 74.3W | 105 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 12:00 | 36.0N 72.7W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 18:00 | 37.6N 71.0W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 00:00 | 39.3N 69.4W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 06:00 | 41.2N 67.3W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 12:00 | 43.3N 65.0W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 16:00 landfall | 44.6N 63.7W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 18:00 | 45.5N 62.6W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 22, 00:00 | 47.9N 59.8W | 35 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 22, 06:00 | 50.0N 56.8W | 30 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 22, 12:00 | 52.0N 53.8W | 30 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 22, 18:00 | 53.6N 50.7W | 30 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 23, 00:00 | 54.7N 47.7W | 35 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 23, 06:00 | 55.3N 44.8W | 35 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 23, 12:00 | 55.3N 41.8W | 35 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 23, 18:00 | 54.5N 37.7W | 30 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 24, 00:00 | 53.5N 33.7W | 30 kt | Extratropical | |
| Aug 24, 06:00 | 52.5N 30.3W | 30 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1950
- Hurricane BakerNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane CharlieNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane DogNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane EasyNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane FoxNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane GeorgeNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Tropical Storm HowNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane ItemNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane JigNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane KingNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Hurricane LoveNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Tropical Storm MikeNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1950
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1950
What this means
A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.
Sources
Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.
The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.