The 1952 season

Hurricane Fox (1952)

Hurricane Fox reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between October 20, 1952 and October 28, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 934 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Fox, 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
October 20, 1952 to October 28, 1952
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
934 mb (27.58 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.1
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
AL101952

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
Oct 24, 18:00Aguada de Pasajeros, Cienfuegos Province, Cuba, 43 km away22.0N 80.9W125 kt (144 mph)934 mb
Oct 25, 19:00Killarney, New Providence, Bahamas, 115 km away24.4N 78.3W60 kt (69 mph)991 mb
Oct 26, 10:00Coast unnamed here24.7N 76.2W75 kt (86 mph)
Oct 26, 15:00Coast unnamed here24.5N 75.6W75 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 106 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 7.70 inches (196 mm).

StationTotalPosition
FT LAUDERDALE BEACH7.70 in (196 mm)26.13N 80.10W
DANIA 4 WNW6.66 in (169 mm)26.07N 80.20W
TAVERNIER5.85 in (149 mm)25.00N 80.52W
FT LAUDERDALE5.30 in (135 mm)26.10N 80.20W
STUART4.82 in (122 mm)27.20N 80.15W
FT PIERCE3.47 in (88 mm)27.45N 80.35W
LOXAHATCHEE3.41 in (87 mm)26.68N 80.27W
POMPANO BEACH3.40 in (86 mm)26.23N 80.13W
MIAMI 12 SSW2.95 in (75 mm)25.65N 80.28W
KENDALL 2 E2.86 in (73 mm)25.68N 80.28W
MIAMI BEACH2.84 in (72 mm)25.80N 80.13W
PERRINE 4W2.74 in (70 mm)25.60N 80.35W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 20, 12:0011.4N 77.7W25 ktTropical depression
Oct 20, 18:0012.5N 78.5W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 21, 00:0013.6N 79.3W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 21, 06:0014.7N 80.2W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 21, 12:0015.7N 81.1W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0016.6N 81.8W45 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0017.0N 82.0W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0017.1N 82.0W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0017.2N 82.0W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0017.3N 82.0W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0017.6N 82.0W75 ktHurricane
Oct 23, 06:0017.9N 82.0W95 ktHurricane
Oct 23, 12:0018.3N 82.0W110 kt942 mbHurricane
Oct 23, 18:0018.8N 82.0W115 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 00:0019.4N 81.9W115 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 06:0020.0N 81.6W120 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 12:0021.0N 81.3W120 kt940 mbHurricane
Oct 24, 18:00 landfall22.0N 80.9W125 kt934 mbHurricane
Oct 25, 00:0022.8N 80.5W85 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 06:0023.4N 79.9W70 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 12:0023.9N 79.3W65 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 18:0024.4N 78.4W60 kt991 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 19:00 landfall24.4N 78.3W60 kt991 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0024.7N 77.5W65 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 06:0024.8N 76.6W75 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 10:00 landfall24.7N 76.2W75 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 12:0024.6N 75.9W75 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 15:00 landfall24.5N 75.6W75 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 18:0024.4N 75.2W70 ktHurricane
Oct 27, 00:0024.4N 74.5W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0025.3N 74.3W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0026.4N 74.2W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0027.6N 73.8W40 ktExtratropical
Oct 28, 00:0028.8N 72.8W35 ktExtratropical
Oct 28, 06:0030.0N 71.7W30 ktExtratropical
Oct 28, 12:0031.4N 70.4W25 ktExtratropical

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.