The 1950 season

Hurricane Baker (1950)

Hurricane Baker reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 18, 1950 and September 1, 1950, with a lowest pressure of 979 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Baker, 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.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 18, 1950 to September 1, 1950
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
979 mb (28.91 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.1
Fastest the center moved
23 kt (26 mph)
Identifier
AL021950

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.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Aug 22, 12:00Saint John’s, Saint John Parish, Antigua and Barbuda, 52 km away16.8N 62.2W60 kt (69 mph)
Aug 31, 03:00Dauphin Island, AL, 12 km away30.2N 88.0W75 kt (86 mph)979 mb
Aug 31, 04:00Spanish Fort, AL, 3 km away30.7N 87.9W75 kt (86 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 3,354 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 15.49 inches (393 mm).

StationTotalPosition
CARYVILLE15.49 in (393 mm)30.77N 85.82W
PANAMA CITY15.07 in (383 mm)30.17N 85.70W
PANAMA CITY 215.07 in (383 mm)30.17N 85.70W
DE FUNIAK SPRINGS 1 E14.75 in (375 mm)30.75N 86.08W
BLOUNTSTOWN 2 SE12.68 in (322 mm)30.45N 85.05W
PENSACOLA11.32 in (288 mm)30.42N 87.22W
GENEVA10.89 in (277 mm)31.03N 85.87W
FAIRHOPE 2 NE10.64 in (270 mm)30.55N 87.88W
VALPARAISO EGLIN AFB10.51 in (267 mm)30.48N 86.52W
MT MITCHELL TVA10.49 in (266 mm)35.77N 82.27W
MOBILE DWTN AP10.31 in (262 mm)30.63N 88.07W
FT MORGAN10.27 in (261 mm)30.23N 88.02W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 18, 12:0012.0N 54.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 18:0012.5N 54.2W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 00:0013.0N 54.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 06:0013.5N 54.7W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 12:0014.0N 55.0W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0014.5N 55.4W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0015.0N 55.9W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0015.5N 56.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0016.0N 57.0W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0016.3N 57.9W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0016.6N 58.8W65 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 06:0016.8N 59.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 12:0016.9N 60.6W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 18:0017.0N 61.0W75 kt987 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 00:0017.0N 61.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 06:0016.9N 61.8W75 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 12:00 landfall16.8N 62.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0016.8N 62.9W45 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 00:0017.0N 64.0W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 06:0017.4N 65.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 12:0017.8N 66.2W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 18:0018.2N 67.3W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 00:0018.6N 68.6W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 06:0019.4N 70.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 12:0020.3N 71.7W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 18:0020.9N 73.4W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0021.3N 74.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0021.6N 76.6W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0021.7N 78.1W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0021.7N 79.1W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 26, 00:0021.7N 80.1W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0021.7N 81.2W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0021.8N 81.9W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0021.9N 82.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0022.0N 83.2W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0022.2N 84.0W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0022.3N 84.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0022.4N 85.3W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0022.6N 86.1W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0022.8N 86.8W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0023.0N 87.2W55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0023.2N 87.5W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0023.5N 87.7W65 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 06:0023.7N 88.0W75 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 12:0023.9N 88.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 18:0024.1N 88.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 00:0024.7N 88.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 06:0025.7N 88.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 12:0027.0N 89.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0028.2N 88.7W85 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0029.4N 88.2W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 03:00 landfall30.2N 88.0W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 04:00 landfall30.7N 87.9W75 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0031.1N 87.9W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0033.4N 88.2W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0034.8N 88.7W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0036.0N 89.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 06:0036.7N 89.0W20 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 12:0036.7N 89.2W15 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 18:0037.0N 89.7W15 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 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.