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Hurricane Allen was the strongest hurricane of 1980 and one of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history, with sustained winds for a time of 190 mph. In addition, it is the only Atlantic hurricane to reach Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale on three separate occasions, and had the third-lowest minimum pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin at 899 mb. Interestingly, during its 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.
The thunderstorms that would become Hurricane Allen originated off the Cape Verde Islands, a rarity for tropical systems in early August. As it moved towards the Caribbean it became the first named storm of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season. As Allen speeded westward it rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane.
After weakening somewhat, Allen reintensified to a Category 5 for a second time. The powerful storm brushed by Jamaica, causing extensive damage, and struck close to Haiti as a Category 4 hurricane.
As the hurricane, weakened by its interactions with the mountainous terrain of Haiti and Jamaica to a Category 3 storm, passed south of Cuba, its massive size caused gale-force winds in the Florida Keys. It restrengthened into a Category 5 hurricane for a third time as it moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Dry air aloft in the Gulf caused the massive storm to weaken substantially before making landfall near Brownsville, Texas. It hit with sustained winds of only 115 mph. The storm caused limited damage in the United States due to its suddenly diminished power and because its highest tides and winds hit a little-populated portion of the Texas coast.
The storm surge was reported as high as 12 feet at Port Mansfield, Texas, 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 seven 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.
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.
The name Allen was retired from the Atlantic tropic storms list in the spring of 1981 and replaced with Andrew.
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