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Hurricane King (1950)

Hurricane King was a Category 4 hurricane at its peak, with 132 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 955 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 13 of the cities we track; the strongest was Miami, FL, with a modeled peak gust of 140 mph.

Peak strength132 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 4
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
13
LandfallsFirst October 16, 1950
2
Lowest pressure
955 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 King’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. October 16, 1950, Category 1 at 92 mph, in Cuba
  2. October 18, 1950, Category 4 at 132 mph, about 5 miles from Miami, FL

Modeled winds at cities (13)

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

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Miami, FL140 mph114 mph2 milesOct 18, 1950, 12:00 AM GMT-5
Port St. Lucie, FL99 mph80 mph39 milesOct 18, 1950, 5:30 AM GMT-5
Palm Bay, FL89 mph72 mph36 milesOct 18, 1950, 9:30 AM GMT-5
Deltona, FL82 mph67 mph26 milesOct 18, 1950, 1:00 PM GMT-5
Orlando, FL81 mph66 mph8 milesOct 18, 1950, 10:45 AM GMT-5
Jacksonville, FL69 mph56 mph50 milesOct 18, 1950, 6:45 PM GMT-5
Naples, FL67 mph55 mph74 milesOct 18, 1950, 2:45 AM GMT-5
Gainesville, FL66 mph54 mph8 milesOct 18, 1950, 4:15 PM GMT-5
Ocala, FL66 mph54 mph15 milesOct 18, 1950, 2:15 PM GMT-5
Lakeland, FL65 mph53 mph37 milesOct 18, 1950, 10:30 AM GMT-5
Cape Coral, FL62 mph50 mph69 milesOct 18, 1950, 4:30 AM GMT-5
North Port, FL55 mph45 mph71 milesOct 18, 1950, 6:00 AM GMT-5
Tampa, FL49 mph40 mph70 milesOct 18, 1950, 11:00 AM GMT-5

What happened

King, a very small but intense hurricane, made landfall near Miami Beach just before midnight on October 17, 1950, and its eye passed directly over Miami.1 NHC's best track lists it at landfall at 0500 UTC on October 18 as a Category 4 hurricane with 115-knot (132 mph) winds and a central pressure of 955 mb.2 The head of the Weather Bureau's Miami office said King's damage path was only 7 to 10 miles wide and looked like the path of a large tornado.1

Sources

  1. 1. NWS Miami: NWS WFO/NHC Miami, FL History Page
  2. 2. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851-2025

Best track (31 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Oct 13, 06:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph16.0°N, 84.2°W
Oct 13, 12:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph16.0°N, 83.9°W
Oct 13, 18:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph16.0°N, 83.8°W
Oct 14, 00:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph16.0°N, 83.7°W
Oct 14, 06:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph16.1°N, 83.6°W
Oct 14, 12:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph16.2°N, 83.5°W
Oct 14, 18:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph16.3°N, 83.3°W
Oct 15, 00:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph16.6°N, 82.7°W
Oct 15, 06:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph16.9°N, 82.0°W
Oct 15, 12:00 UTCTropical storm58 mph17.2°N, 81.0°W
Oct 15, 18:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph992 mb17.7°N, 80.0°W
Oct 16, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph18.4°N, 79.3°W
Show all 31