Hurricane Dog (1950) - Naming, Records and Aftermath

Naming, Records and Aftermath

During the 1950, 1951, and 1952 seasons, Atlantic hurricanes were named using the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. However, Hurricane Dog was referred to as "the great hurricane in the central Atlantic" in newspaper reports, and its name was seldom used. Operationally, hurricanes were not referred to by name until 1952.

Hurricane Dog retains the record for longest continuous duration for a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, although Hurricane Allen spent more total time as a Category 5. On September 4, Hurricane Dog was one of three simultaneous Atlantic hurricanes, along with Charlie and Easy. This is a rare occurrence in the Atlantic Ocean, and has only happened six times since 1950—in 1961, 1967, 1980, 1995, 1998, and most recently in 2010. This also occurred on August 31 with Baker, Charlie and Dog.

Additionally, Dog remains one of only three Category 5 hurricanes in the historical database to avoid land—the others were Easy and Cleo, both of which also occurred in the 1950s.

A relief fund was organized in the aftermath of the hurricane by The Daily Gleaner, a newspaper from Kingston, Jamaica. The newspaper invited its readers to help assist "their suffering fellow-West Indians in the island of Antigua." Four days after the hurricane, the fund totaled £171,000 (1950 GBP, $4.27 million 2009 USD). One Antigua official stated the country "would appreciate voluntary assistance from outside, especially food and clothing". Relief aid was also sent from the United States to the affected islands.