Hurricane Allen (1980)
Hurricane Allen reached Category 5 in the North Atlantic between July 31, 1980 and August 11, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 899 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Allen. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- July 31, 1980 to August 11, 1980
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 165 kt (190 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 899 mb (26.55 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 52.3
- Fastest the center moved
- 23 kt (26 mph)
- Identifier
- AL041980
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 308 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 20.20 inches (513 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| KINGSVILLE | 20.20 in (513 mm) | 27.50N 97.82W |
| KINGSVILLE | 17.28 in (439 mm) | 27.52N 97.87W |
| ALICE | 13.88 in (353 mm) | 27.73N 98.07W |
| BEEVILLE 5 NE | 13.55 in (344 mm) | 28.45N 97.70W |
| CORPUS CHRISTI INTL ARPT | 13.27 in (337 mm) | 27.77N 97.52W |
| GEORGE WEST 2 SSW | 13.13 in (334 mm) | 28.30N 98.12W |
| FALFURRIAS | 12.83 in (326 mm) | 27.22N 98.13W |
| MCALLEN | 12.60 in (320 mm) | 26.20N 98.25W |
| SARITA 7 E | 11.20 in (284 mm) | 27.22N 97.68W |
| THREE RIVERS | 10.90 in (277 mm) | 28.47N 98.18W |
| ROBSTOWN | 10.89 in (277 mm) | 27.78N 97.67W |
| CHAPMAN RANCH | 10.80 in (274 mm) | 27.58N 97.45W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 12:00 | 11.0N 30.0W | 25 kt | Disturbance | |
| Jul 31, 18:00 | 10.9N 32.2W | 25 kt | Disturbance | |
| Aug 1, 00:00 | 10.8N 34.3W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 1, 06:00 | 10.7N 36.4W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 1, 12:00 | 10.7N 38.6W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 1, 18:00 | 10.7N 40.7W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 2, 00:00 | 11.0N 42.8W | 35 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 2, 06:00 | 11.4N 44.8W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 2, 12:00 | 11.9N 46.9W | 55 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 2, 18:00 | 12.3N 49.1W | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 3, 00:00 | 12.4N 51.4W | 65 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 3, 06:00 | 12.6N 53.6W | 70 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 3, 12:00 | 12.8N 55.6W | 80 kt | 975 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 3, 18:00 | 12.9N 57.5W | 95 kt | 965 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 4, 00:00 | 13.3N 59.1W | 110 kt | 950 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 4, 06:00 | 13.6N 61.0W | 115 kt | 948 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 4, 12:00 | 14.0N 63.0W | 125 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 4, 18:00 | 14.4N 64.9W | 130 kt | 930 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 5, 00:00 | 14.8N 66.7W | 140 kt | 911 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 5, 06:00 | 15.4N 68.6W | 145 kt | 916 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 5, 12:00 | 15.9N 70.5W | 155 kt | 932 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 5, 18:00 | 16.5N 72.3W | 150 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 6, 00:00 | 17.8N 73.8W | 140 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 6, 06:00 | 18.3N 75.9W | 115 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 6, 12:00 | 19.2N 78.0W | 115 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 6, 18:00 | 20.0N 80.1W | 125 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 7, 00:00 | 20.1N 81.9W | 135 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 7, 06:00 | 20.4N 83.6W | 145 kt | 935 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 7, 12:00 | 21.0N 84.8W | 155 kt | 910 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 7, 18:00 | 21.8N 86.4W | 165 kt | 899 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 8, 00:00 | 22.2N 87.9W | 155 kt | 920 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 8, 06:00 | 22.8N 89.2W | 130 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 8, 12:00 | 23.4N 90.5W | 115 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 8, 18:00 | 23.9N 91.8W | 130 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 9, 00:00 | 24.5N 93.0W | 145 kt | 912 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 9, 06:00 | 25.0N 94.2W | 155 kt | 909 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 9, 12:00 | 25.2N 95.4W | 140 kt | 916 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 9, 18:00 | 25.4N 96.1W | 125 kt | 925 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 10, 00:00 | 25.8N 96.8W | 110 kt | 935 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 10, 06:00 | 26.1N 97.2W | 100 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 10, 12:00 | 26.7N 98.1W | 85 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 10, 18:00 | 27.3N 99.0W | 70 kt | 970 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 11, 00:00 | 27.7N 99.8W | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 11, 06:00 | 28.0N 100.9W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 11, 12:00 | 28.5N 101.9W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 11, 18:00 | 28.9N 102.9W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane BonnieNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane CharleyNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane GeorgesNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane EarlNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Tropical Storm DanielleNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane FrancesNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Tropical Storm HermineNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane IvanNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane JeanneNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1980
- Hurricane KarlNorth Atlantic · 1980
What this means
A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.
Sources
Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.
The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.