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Hurricane Baker (1950)

Hurricane Baker was a Category 2 hurricane at its peak, with 104 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 979 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 6 of the cities we track; the strongest was Pensacola, FL, with a modeled peak gust of 73 mph.

Peak strength104 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 2
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
6
LandfallsFirst August 22, 1950
3
Lowest pressure
979 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Baker’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. August 22, 1950, tropical storm at 69 mph, in Montserrat
  2. August 31, 1950, Category 1 at 86 mph, about 30 miles from Daphne, AL
  3. August 31, 1950, Category 1 at 86 mph, about 5 miles from Daphne, AL

Modeled winds at cities (6)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Pensacola, FL73 mph59 mph45 milesAug 30, 1950, 11:45 PM GMT-4
Daphne, AL72 mph59 mph4 milesAug 30, 1950, 9:45 PM GMT-5
Mobile, AL67 mph54 mph13 milesAug 30, 1950, 11:45 PM GMT-5
Crestview, FL51 mph41 mph78 milesAug 31, 1950, 12:00 AM GMT-4
Tuscaloosa, AL48 mph39 mph37 milesAug 31, 1950, 6:00 AM GMT-5
Gulfport, MS48 mph39 mph66 milesAug 30, 1950, 6:45 PM GMT-5

What happened

Baker crossed Cuba and turned north through the Gulf of Mexico, then made its first US landfall on the Fort Morgan Peninsula, Alabama, late on August 30, 1950.1 NHC's best track puts that landfall at 0300 UTC on August 31 (9 p.m. CST on August 30) as a Category 1 hurricane with 75-knot (86 mph) winds and a central pressure of 979 mb.2 About an hour later Baker moved up Mobile Bay and came ashore again near Spanish Fort and Daphne, Alabama, still a Category 1 hurricane.1,2

NWS Mobile says peak gusts topped 100 mph along much of the southern Alabama and northwest Florida coast.1 An estimated 8 to 10 inches of rain fell across the area, with higher totals on the east side of the track.1

Sources

  1. 1. NWS Mobile/Pensacola: Hurricane Baker - August 1950
  2. 2. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851-2025

Best track (60 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Aug 18, 12:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph12.0°N, 54.0°W
Aug 18, 18:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph12.5°N, 54.2°W
Aug 19, 00:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph13.0°N, 54.4°W
Aug 19, 06:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph13.5°N, 54.7°W
Aug 19, 12:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph14.0°N, 55.0°W
Aug 19, 18:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph14.5°N, 55.4°W
Aug 20, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph15.0°N, 55.9°W
Aug 20, 06:00 UTCTropical storm58 mph15.5°N, 56.4°W
Aug 20, 12:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph16.0°N, 57.0°W
Aug 20, 18:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph16.3°N, 57.9°W
Aug 21, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph16.6°N, 58.8°W
Aug 21, 06:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane81 mph16.8°N, 59.8°W
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