Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · August 12–24, 1950
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Hurricane Able (1950) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1950 Atlantic season. It formed on August 12, 1950, reached its peak of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 953 mb on August 19, 1950, and made landfall near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on August 21, 1950 as a Category 1 hurricane (75 mph). The storm lasted 12.3 days and travelled about 4,648 miles (7,479 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| Landfall (UTC) | Where | Strength | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 21, 1950 · 16:00 UTC | near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | Cat 1 75 mph | — |
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | direct hit | Aug 21 · 16:00 UTC | Cat 1 75 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 17.1°N 55.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 12 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 17.7°N 56.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 12 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 18.2°N 57.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 12 18:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 19.0°N 58.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 13 00:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 20.0°N 60.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 13 06:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 20.7°N 61.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 13 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 21.3°N 62.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 13 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | 997 mb | 22.0°N 63.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 14 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | 995 mb | 22.7°N 63.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 14 06:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 23.1°N 64.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 14 12:00 | TS | 69 mph | 995 mb | 23.4°N 65.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 14 18:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 989 mb | 23.9°N 66.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 15 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 24.4°N 66.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 15 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 24.8°N 66.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 15 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 987 mb | 25.2°N 66.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 15 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 25.5°N 67.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 25.7°N 68.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 25.7°N 68.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 980 mb | 25.5°N 69.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 25.4°N 69.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 00:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 25.4°N 70.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 06:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 25.4°N 71.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 962 mb | 25.5°N 72.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 18:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 25.9°N 73.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 00:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 26.7°N 73.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 06:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 27.3°N 74.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 958 mb | 27.9°N 74.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 18:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 28.4°N 75.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 00:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 29.1°N 75.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 29.9°N 75.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 12:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 953 mb | 30.7°N 75.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 18:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 31.7°N 75.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 20 00:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 32.8°N 75.2°W | 174 mi SE of Havelock, North Carolina |
| Aug 20 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 34.4°N 74.3°W | 152 mi ESE of Havelock, North Carolina |
| Aug 20 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 36.0°N 72.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 20 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 37.6°N 71.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 21 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 39.3°N 69.4°W | 169 mi SSE of Harwich, Massachusetts |
| Aug 21 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 41.2°N 67.3°W | 148 mi ESE of Harwich, Massachusetts |
| Aug 21 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 43.3°N 65.0°W | 117 mi SW of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Aug 21 16:00 | Cat 1 LANDFALL | 75 mph | — | 44.6°N 63.7°W | near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Aug 21 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 45.5°N 62.6°W | near New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Aug 22 00:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | — | 47.9°N 59.8°W | 102 mi ENE of Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec, Canada |
| Aug 22 06:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 50.0°N 56.8°W | 89 mi NE of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Aug 22 12:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 52.0°N 53.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 22 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 53.6°N 50.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 23 00:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | — | 54.7°N 47.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 23 06:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | — | 55.3°N 44.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 23 12:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | — | 55.3°N 41.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 23 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 54.5°N 37.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 24 00:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 53.5°N 33.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 24 06:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 52.5°N 30.3°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
Able made landfall once: near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on August 21, 1950 at 16:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds.
At its peak on August 19, 1950, Able was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a central pressure of 953 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 1 hurricane.
12.3 days, from August 12, 1950 to August 24, 1950, including 168 hours at hurricane strength (78 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 4,648 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
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