Hurricane Alicia
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| Category 3 hurricane (SSHS) | ||
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 Hurricane Alicia shortly after landfall |
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| Formed | August 15, 1983 | |
| Dissipated | August 21, 1983 | |
| Highest winds |
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| Lowest pressure | 963 mbar (hPa) | |
| Damage | $5.1 billion (2005 dollars) | |
| Fatalities | 21 direct | |
| Areas affected |
Eastern Texas (particularly around Houston) | |
| Part of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season |
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Hurricane Alicia was the only major hurricane of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season. It hit southeast Texas, becoming the first hurricane to hit the U.S. coast since Hurricane Allen in 1980.
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[edit] Storm history
A cold front moved through the Gulf of Mexico. On the extreme western end of it, a mesoscale low-pressure area developed on August 14, developing into a tropical depression on the 15th. The depression became Tropical Storm Alicia later that day. Steering currents were weak, due to a ridge of high pressure to the north. Alicia drifted to the west, gradually strengthening to a hurricane on the 17th.
As the ridge receded eastward, Alicia was able to move more northward. As it approached the Texas coast, it quickly strengthened to a 115 mph major hurricane. It made landfall near Galveston, Texas, on August 18. The storm moved northward, its eye passing over Houston.
Alicia weakened to a tropical depression over mainland Texas and dissipated over Nebraska.
[edit] Impact
Houston suffered billions of dollars in damage. Thousands of glass panes in downtown skyscrapers were shattered by gravel blown off of rooftops [1]. The Galveston NWS office (temporarily) lost its radar [2]. In the end, Alicia killed 21 people and caused $2 billion in damage ($5.1 billion in 2005 dollars).
Alicia brought beneficial rains to the Southern Plains, which had been suffering from a drought for much of the Summer of 1983.
Alicia was the first storm for which the National Hurricane Center issued landfall probabilities.
[edit] Retirement
- See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes
The name Alicia was retired in the spring of 1984 and will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced with Allison in the 1989 season.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
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