The 1950 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 15, 1950 and ended on November 12, 1950. It was the first season in which names were assigned to tropical cyclones. The 1950s season was a very active season with 16 tropical storms, all but five of which turned into hurricanes. A total of eight of the cyclones were classified as severe hurricanes (category 3 and higher) before a modern reanalysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) classified only six as really severe hurricanes.
From the beginning of the season on June 15 to the beginning of August, the tropical Atlantic remained remarkably calm compared to other seasons, as the US Weather Bureau found. That all changed on August 12th when the first tropical storm of the season formed east of the Lesser Antilles. The storm was christened Hurricane "Able" and grew into a level 3 hurricane in the days that followed. In the next four weeks, another five tropical storms formed, which grew into category 2 or higher hurricanes. The strongest was Hurricane "Dog", which reached category 4 and wind speeds of up to 230 km / h.
After Hurricane “Fox”, a quieter phase lasting around two weeks in which no tropical storms developed. Only with Hurricane George, which formed on September 27th, did the Atlantic become more active again. A total of eight more storms formed in October, four of which reached hurricane strength, but only two of them could develop into severe hurricanes. The hurricane season ended with Tropical Storm “Sixteen”, which resolved on November 12th.
Tropical Storms Mike, Fifteen and Sixteen were only discovered by a modern reanalysis . In addition, the researchers' later investigation found that several storms in the 1950 season were weaker than expected, resulting in a lower ACE than originally rated.