| tropical storm (SSHS) | |
|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Arlene near its Texas landfall on June 19, 1993. | |
| Formed | June 18, 1993 |
| Dissipated | June 21, 1993 |
| Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 40 mph (65 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 1006 mbar (hPa; 29.71 inHg) |
| Fatalities | 29 direct (20 as tropical wave) |
| Damage | $55 million (1993 USD) |
| Areas affected | El Salvador, Yucatán Peninsula, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas |
| Part of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Tropical Storm Arlene was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Texas since Hurricane Jerry in 1989. The second tropical cyclone and first named storm of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season, Arlene developed from a tropical wave in the southern Gulf of Mexico on June 18. The depression slowly strengthened as it tracked west-northwestward and then north-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico. After briefly accelerating, the depression intensified enough to be upgraded to Tropical Storm Arlene on June 19. Due to its proximity to land, no further strengthening occurred before Arlene made landfall over Padre Island, Texas. Arlene dissipated slightly more than 24 hours after moving inland.
The precursor tropical wave dropped heavy rainfall in Central America. As a result, 20 fatalities occurred, all of which were from a mudslide in El Salvador. There were also reports of significant flooding in Mexico, which affected seven states. In Texas, Arlene also dropped heavy rainfall, with some areas receiving more than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation. More than 600 houses and 12 businesses in Texas reported flood damage. The outerbands of Arlene also caused heavy rainfall in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, as well as light precipitation in Oklahoma. Although no damage or fatalities were reported in those states. Overall, Arlene caused 29 fatalities and $55 million (1993 USD) in damage.
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A tropical wave was detected on satellite images in the Caribbean Sea near the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua on June 9. The system moved westward over other Central American countries, most notably, El Salvador.[1] Initially, strong wind shear from the west and northwest prohibited the system from strengthening as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico. On June 16 the tropical wave interacted with an upper-level low which caused some inaccuracies in the forecast. The data produced by the National Hurricane Center indicates that an 1008 mbar low formed over the Yucatán Peninsula. But when a reconnaissance hurricane hunter aircraft flew in, they only found a broad area of low pressure, with no closed or low level circulation, despite the fact that satellite photo shows the system developing very well.[2]
However, only a few hours later satellite photos also showed some convective bands from the system, so it was declared a tropical depression on June 18, Tropical Depression Two to be more specific.[3] The center of the storm was south of a low pressure system to the north and that low forced the depression to move west-northwest. During another flight into the storm, the hurricane hunter crews reported a 1006 mbar reading but could not get an accurate fix.[1] On June 19, a comma shaped band of thunderstorms formed around the center this caused slightly strengthening and further organization. The National Hurricane Center upgraded the depression to a tropical storm on that same day at 1200 UTC and new tropical storm received the name Arlene, therefore it was reclassified as Tropical Storm Arlene.[4] Arlene moved northwestward at 2 to 3 mph (3.2 to 4.8 km/h) before nearly stalling because of a frontal system passing by. On June 20, Tropical Storm Arlene made landfall over Padre Island, Texas as a minimal tropical storm, the location of the center where it struck land was about 90 miles (140 km) to south of Corpus Christi.[5] Tropical Storm Arlene quickly weakened to a depression shortly after landfall. The remnants of the storm was tracked over the lower Rio Grande valley of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. [1]
As Arlene was a weak tropical cyclone, minimal damage resulted from high winds. However, much of the damage and fatalities from Arlene were as a result of flooding. Overall, Arlene left 29 people dead and $55 million (1993 USD) in damage.
The tropical wave that became Arlene brought heavy rains across Central America for several days. The rains from the tropical wave caused a landslide that left 20 people dead in El Salvador.
Heavy rainfall was also reported in Mexico. As a result, flooding from Arlene caused five fatalities and $33 million dollars (1993 USD) in damage.[1] The states of Veracruz, Campeche, Yucatán, San Luis Potosí, Quintana Roo, Nuevo León, Jalisco were affected by the floods. [1]
Because it was a relatively fast moving system, there was few warnings put into effect in advance of Tropical Storm Arlene. The only warning from the National Hurricane Center was a tropical storm warning in effect from Brownsville to Matagorda, Texas on June 19, which was discontinued 24 hours later.
In Texas, Arlene dropped heavy rain, the highest was 326.4 mm in Henderson.[1] Rainfall ranging from 9-11 inches were reported in other parts of Texas. In addition, a funnel cloud was reported near Corpus Christi but never touched the ground.[6] The rainfall from Arlene caused numerous reports of flooding. In Wallicy County, flooding damaged over 400 homes and 12 businesses which totaled up to $1 million dollars (1993 USD). 200 homes in Starr County were also damaged.[6] A storm tide from Arlene caused minimal beach erosion along the Texas/Louisiana coast.[1]
In Louisiana, Arlene's outer rainbands dropped 7-10 inches of rain across the southwestern part of the state. However there were no reports of damage.[7]
![[1]](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1993/arlene/news/mexunkp1.gif){kind=link}
