Meteorological History
Following the passage of Hurricane Baker through the Caribbean Sea, a trough of low pressure persisted across the western Caribbean Sea. On August 31, convection became more concentrated to the south of the Isle of Youth, and on September 1 the disturbance developed into a tropical storm; it was later given the name "Easy", as part of the United States Weather Bureau naming tropical cyclones with the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. A developing anticyclone and moist air over the region provided favorable conditions for intensification, as the storm tracked slowly northeastward. On September 2, Tropical Storm Easy attained hurricane status about 50 miles (85 km) south of the Isle of Youth.
After crossing the Isle of Youth, Hurricane Easy strengthened slightly while continuing northeastward, and the storm struck the Matanzas Province of Cuba with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). The hurricane quickly crossed the island, passing just east of Havana before reaching the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on September 3. After entering the Gulf of Mexico, Easy turned to the north-northwest, paralleling the Florida coastline a short distance offshore while producing hurricane force winds onshore. On September 4, the hurricane quickly strengthened to reach peak winds of 125 mph (201 km/h), an intensity it would retain for 18 hours. That day, a ridge of high pressure strengthened to the north of the storm, leaving weaker steering currents. This caused Hurricane Easy to execute a counter-clockwise loop to the west of Tampa, Florida.
After executing its first loop, Hurricane Easy moved northeastward at 7 mph (11 km/h) until making landfall near Cedar Key on September 5 with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). Steering currents again became weak, causing Easy to execute a second loop in 24 hours towards the southeast. After briefly emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane made its final landfall on Homosassa Springs to the north of Tampa, and rapidly weakened to a tropical storm over land. Easy turned to the northeast, which was followed by a turn to the northwest as the storm neared the Atlantic coast. On September 7, Easy crossed into Georgia, and shortly thereafter it weakened to a tropical depression. The depression continued northwestward for two days until dissipating over extreme northeastern Arkansas on September 9. The reason for its erratic track, including the two loops, is unknown, although it is potentially due to a Fujiwhara interaction with Hurricane Dog to its east.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Easy (1950)
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