The 1950 season

Hurricane Love (1950)

Hurricane Love reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 18, 1950 and October 22, 1950, with a lowest pressure of 987 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Love, 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
October 18, 1950 to October 22, 1950
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
987 mb (29.15 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.7
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
AL131950

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)WherePositionWindPressure
Oct 21, 11:00Steinhatchee, FL, 3 km away29.7N 83.4W50 kt (58 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 2,345 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 8.11 inches (206 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GRAND ISLE8.11 in (206 mm)29.24N 89.99W
ALEXANDRIA INTL AP5.70 in (145 mm)31.34N 92.56W
ALEXANDRIA5.70 in (145 mm)31.32N 92.46W
HIGH SPRINGS4.75 in (121 mm)29.83N 82.60W
HIGH SPRINGS4.75 in (121 mm)29.83N 82.60W
ALEXANDRIA # 24.47 in (114 mm)31.32N 92.45W
GLENMORA4.28 in (109 mm)30.97N 92.58W
WINNFIELD 3 N4.13 in (105 mm)31.96N 92.66W
GUM SPRINGS FIRE TOWER4.11 in (104 mm)31.90N 92.78W
POLLOCK FOREST NURSERY4.05 in (103 mm)31.50N 92.47W
RUSTON LA TECH3.95 in (100 mm)32.51N 92.65W
BETHERA 4 SW3.89 in (99 mm)33.17N 79.83W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 18, 00:0025.5N 89.5W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0025.8N 90.5W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0026.3N 90.5W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0026.7N 91.0W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0026.6N 91.4W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0026.4N 91.6W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0026.0N 91.6W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0025.6N 91.0W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Oct 20, 00:0025.4N 89.6W70 kt987 mbHurricane
Oct 20, 06:0025.7N 88.3W70 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 12:0026.0N 87.3W70 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 18:0026.4N 86.5W70 kt991 mbHurricane
Oct 21, 00:0027.1N 85.2W70 ktHurricane
Oct 21, 06:0028.5N 84.0W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 11:00 landfall29.7N 83.4W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0029.9N 83.3W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0030.8N 82.7W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 22, 00:0031.5N 82.2W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 22, 06:0032.0N 81.8W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 22, 12:0032.5N 81.4W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 22, 18:0033.0N 81.2W30 ktExtratropical

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.