Hurricane Allen

Information about Hurricane Allen

Hurricane Allen
Category 5 hurricane (SSHS)
Enlarge picture
Hurricane Allen in the Yucatán Channel near peak intensity on August 7, 1980

Hurricane Allen in the Yucatán Channel near peak intensity on August 7, 1980
FormedJuly 31, 1980
DissipatedAugust 11, 1980
Highest
winds
0 mph (0 km/h) (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure899 mbar (hPa; 0 inHg)
Fatalities236 – 261 direct[1]
Damage$0 billion (1980 USD)
$0 billion (2006 USD)
Areas
affected		Windward Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Yucatán Peninsula, northern Mexico, southern Texas
Part of the
1980 Atlantic hurricane season
Hurricane Allen was the strongest hurricane of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season. It was one of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history, one of the few hurricanes to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale on three separate occasions, and spent more time as a Category 5 than any other Atlantic hurricane. Allen is one of only two recorded hurricanes in the Atlantic to achieve 190 mph sustained winds, the other being Hurricane Camille.

Storm history

Enlarge picture
Storm path
Allen originated as a Cape Verde-type hurricane, a rarity for tropical systems in early August. The tropical disturbance which would become Allen moved off the coast of Africa on July 30, and was upgraded to a tropical depression on August 1. Early on August 2, as it moved towards the Caribbean it became the first named storm of the season. Allen moved westward at an unusually high speed of 15 to 20 knots, rapidly intensifying into a Category 5 hurricane at 0000 (GMT) on August 5 while south of Puerto Rico and (very unusually) remaining so for over a day. During this time Allen attained a central pressure of 911mb, the lowest pressure on record in the Eastern Caribbean. The eye passed just south of Hispaniola and just north of Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane.<ref name="AllenTCR" /> After weakening from interactions with the mountains of Haiti and Jamaica, Allen reintensified to a Category 5 for a second time, again retaining this intensity for over a day. It moved between Cuba and the Yucatán Peninsula, reaching its minimum pressure of 899mb while crossing the Yucatán Channel. Interestingly, during Allen's trek through the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, its center of circulation never crossed over land despite its close passage to the islands of the Caribbean.<ref name="AllenTCR" />
Enlarge picture
Hurricane Allen at landfall on August 9, 1980
Allen again weakened to a Category 4 storm through interactions with land, but it restrengthened into a Category 5 hurricane for a third time as it moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, again keeping this intensity for nearly a full day and with a pressure drop to 909mb, the lowest pressure ever recorded in the western Gulf of Mexico. Shortly before landfall, dry air aloft in the Gulf caused the massive storm to weaken substantially. Allen made landfall north of Brownsville, Texas as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of only 115 mph.<ref name="AllenTCR" />

Records

When Allen reached Category 5 intensity on August 5, it became the earliest Category 5 storm ever recorded. This record stood until Hurricane Emily shattered it on July 16, 2005.
Enlarge picture
Debris from Hurricane Allen
Allen is one of the few Atlantic hurricanes to reach Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale on three separate occasions, the others being Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Isabel.

Allen also produced the fifth-lowest minimum pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin at 899 mbar (hPa) and was the strongest known hurricane in the basin, in terms of pressure, since 1935.[1] It remains the most intense storm ever in August.

Allen spent nearly 3 days as a Category 5 storm, by far the highest of any Atlantic hurricane.

Impact

Storm deaths by region
(incomplete)
Region Deaths[2]
Haiti220
United States24
St. Lucia18
Jamaica8
Cuba3
Guadeloupe1
Total (direct & indirect)274


Allen caused $2.6 billion (2005 USD) in damages and killed at least 274 people throughout its course (including indirect deaths).[3]

Lesser Antilles

Preliminary damages for Barbados were estimated to be $1.5 million (1980 USD). About 500 houses were either damaged or destroyed. No deaths were reported. St. Lucia sustained heavy damage from Allen. Eighteen people lost their lives as a result of the storm's passage. One death in Guadeloupe was attributed to Allen.

Haiti

Extensive damage occurred due to high winds and flash flooding. Total costs were estimated to be at more than $400 million (1980 USD). Roughly 50% of the nation's coffee crop was destroyed. In all, 220 people were killed and 835'000 were left homeless. In the capital Port-au-Prince, 41 deaths were caused by tin roofs flying off and around 1200 were made homeless by flooding [4].

Jamaica

In Jamaica, 8 deaths were attributed to Allen. Damage was very significant along the northeast coast, where the hurricane made its closest approach to the island.

Cuba

There were no reports of significant damage, though 3 deaths were attributed to Allen.

Cayman Islands

Cayman Brac was hit by winds in excess of 115 mph which caused considerable property damage. No deaths were reported.

United States

Enlarge picture
Hurricane Allen's rainfall across Texas and Mexico


In Texas, the storm surge was reported as high as 12 feet at Port Mansfield, though it may have been higher because the highest surges occurred in unpopulated and unmonitored sections of the Texas coast. A peak wind gust of 129 mph was also measured at Port Mansfield. The storm caused 7 deaths in Texas and 17 in Louisiana (most resulting from the crash of a helicopter evacuating workers from an offshore platform). Allen spawned several tornadoes in Texas. One tornado caused $100 million in damage when it hit Austin, Texas, making it the costliest tropical cyclone-spawned tornado ever. Overall, however, the storm caused limited damage in the United States due to its suddenly diminished power and because its highest tides and winds hit a sparsely-populated portion of the Texas coast.<ref name="AllenTCR" />

One bit of good news resulted from Allen's arrival -- it dumped 10 to 20 inches of rain in south Texas, ending a summer-long drought during the Heat Wave of 1980. Its storm total rainfall map is shown to the right.[5]

Retirement

The name Allen was retired from the Atlantic tropic storms list in the spring of 1981, and will not be used for a future Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced with Andrew in the 1986 season which has since been retired after the 1992 storm and replaced by Alex for the 1998 season.

References

1. ^ NOAA. Hurricane Katrina Service Assessment. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
2. ^ Preliminary Storm Report. Hurricane Allen. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
3. ^ Hurricane Allen Tropical Cyclone Report. Retrieved on 2006-05-19.
4. ^ Hurricanecity. Port au prince,Haiti's history with tropical systems. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
5. ^ "NOAA HPC - Hurricane Allen".

See also

External links


Retired Atlantic hurricanes
1950s | Carol | Edna | Hazel | Connie | Diane | Ione | Janet | Audrey | Gracie
1960s | Donna | Carla | Hattie | Flora | Cleo | Dora | Hilda | Betsy | Inez | Beulah | Camille
1970s | Celia | Agnes | Carmen | Fifi | Eloise | Anita | David | Frederic
1980s | Allen | Alicia | Elena | Gloria | Gilbert | Joan | Hugo
1990s | Diana | Klaus | Bob | Andrew | Luis | Marilyn | Opal | Roxanne | Cesar | Fran | Hortense | Georges | Mitch | Floyd | Lenny
2000s | Keith | Allison | Iris | Michelle | Isidore | Lili | Fabian | Isabel | Juan | Charley | Frances | Ivan | Jeanne | Dennis | Katrina | Rita | Stan | Wilma


Tropical cyclones of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season
1
2
3
A
5
B
C
8
D
E
F
G
H
I
15
J
17
K
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
TDTS12345
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a scale classifying most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of "tropical depressions" and "tropical storms", and thereby become hurricanes.
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Hurricane Camille

Category 5 hurricane (SSHS)

Hurricane Camille in the Gulf of Mexico

Formed August 14, 1969
Dissipated August 22, 1969
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