The 1952 season

Hurricane Able (1952)

Hurricane Able reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 18, 1952 and September 3, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 983 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Able, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1952 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, 1952 to September 3, 1952
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
983 mb (29.03 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.8
Fastest the center moved
24 kt (28 mph)
Identifier
AL021952

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
Aug 31, 03:00Port Royal, SC, 12 km away32.3N 80.6W85 kt (98 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 1,964 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 6.53 inches (166 mm).

StationTotalPosition
CONWAY6.53 in (166 mm)33.82N 79.05W
RIFTON 1 N6.23 in (158 mm)41.85N 74.05W
FERNANDINA BEACH6.20 in (157 mm)30.65N 81.45W
CHAMBERSBURG 1 ESE6.18 in (157 mm)39.93N 77.63W
OAK RIDGE RSVR6.14 in (156 mm)41.00N 74.48W
CARTHAGE WTP6.11 in (155 mm)35.32N 79.40W
FAYETTEVILLE PWC6.10 in (155 mm)35.05N 78.85W
EMMITSBURG6.09 in (155 mm)39.68N 77.35W
WADESBORO6.00 in (152 mm)34.95N 80.07W
MACOPIN LWR INTKE DAM5.74 in (146 mm)41.02N 74.40W
PINEHURST STHRN PINES5.65 in (144 mm)35.20N 79.47W
BIG MEADOWS5.60 in (142 mm)38.52N 78.43W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 18, 06:0014.6N 19.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 12:0014.4N 19.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 18:0014.3N 20.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 00:0014.1N 21.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 06:0013.9N 22.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 12:0013.7N 23.7W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 18:0013.4N 25.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 20, 00:0013.2N 26.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 20, 06:0013.0N 28.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 20, 12:0012.8N 29.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 20, 18:0012.6N 31.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 21, 00:0012.4N 33.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 21, 06:0012.3N 34.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 21, 12:0012.3N 36.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 21, 18:0012.3N 38.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 00:0012.3N 40.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 06:0012.6N 41.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 12:0013.0N 43.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 18:0013.5N 45.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 00:0014.0N 46.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 06:0014.5N 48.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 12:0015.0N 49.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 18:0015.5N 51.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 00:0016.0N 52.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 06:0016.5N 53.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 12:0017.0N 54.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 18:0017.5N 55.8W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0018.0N 56.7W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0018.6N 57.6W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0019.3N 58.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0019.8N 59.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0020.0N 59.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0020.3N 60.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0020.7N 61.7W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0021.1N 62.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0021.4N 63.1W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0021.7N 63.8W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0021.9N 64.6W55 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0022.2N 65.6W60 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0022.7N 66.7W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0023.4N 68.0W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0024.2N 69.3W55 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0025.1N 70.6W50 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0025.9N 71.9W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0026.7N 73.4W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0027.4N 74.9W60 kt999 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0027.9N 76.3W65 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 00:0028.5N 77.7W65 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 06:0029.1N 78.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 12:0029.8N 79.5W70 kt992 mbHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0030.7N 79.9W80 kt983 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0031.7N 80.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 03:00 landfall32.3N 80.6W85 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0032.9N 80.8W65 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0034.2N 80.9W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0035.4N 80.6W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0036.6N 79.9W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0038.1N 78.6W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0039.5N 77.1W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0040.8N 75.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0042.2N 72.9W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0043.0N 71.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 2, 12:0043.9N 70.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 2, 18:0045.5N 68.2W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 3, 00:0047.2N 65.8W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 3, 06:0048.5N 63.5W20 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1952

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.