Tropical Storm How (1950)
Tropical Storm How peaked at 40 kt in the North Atlantic between October 1, 1950 and October 4, 1950, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm How, 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
- October 1, 1950 to October 4, 1950
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 1.6
- Fastest the center moved
- 14 kt (16 mph)
- Identifier
- AL081950
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.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 821 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 5.00 inches (127 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| SAN BENITO | 5.00 in (127 mm) | 26.13N 97.63W |
| HARLINGEN | 3.50 in (89 mm) | 26.20N 97.67W |
| BROWNSVILLE S PADRE ISLAND INTL AP | 2.16 in (55 mm) | 25.91N 97.42W |
| ENGLEMAN GARDENS | 1.60 in (41 mm) | 26.33N 98.02W |
| WESLACO | 1.54 in (39 mm) | 26.18N 97.97W |
| MUNDAY | 1.33 in (34 mm) | 33.45N 99.62W |
| JUDKINS | 1.26 in (32 mm) | 31.72N 102.63W |
| PORT ISABEL | 1.21 in (31 mm) | 26.09N 97.31W |
| RED BLUFF DAM | 1.20 in (30 mm) | 31.89N 103.92W |
| CANDELARIA | 1.19 in (30 mm) | 30.14N 104.68W |
| MCALLEN | 1.17 in (30 mm) | 26.19N 98.25W |
| FT. STOCKTON | 1.10 in (28 mm) | 30.91N 102.92W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 06:00 | 25.6N 88.4W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 1, 12:00 | 25.8N 88.5W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 1, 18:00 | 26.0N 88.6W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 2, 00:00 | 26.1N 88.9W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 2, 06:00 | 26.3N 89.5W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 2, 12:00 | 26.4N 90.3W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 2, 18:00 | 26.2N 91.1W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 3, 00:00 | 26.0N 92.1W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 3, 06:00 | 25.5N 93.5W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 3, 12:00 | 25.0N 94.8W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 3, 18:00 | 24.7N 95.8W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 4, 00:00 | 24.4N 96.6W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 4, 06:00 | 24.0N 97.2W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 4, 12:00 | 23.5N 97.8W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 4, 18:00 | 23.0N 98.4W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1950
- Hurricane AbleNorth Atlantic · 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
- 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.