The 1983 season

Hurricane Tico (1983)

Hurricane Tico reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between October 11, 1983 and October 19, 1983, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Tico, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1983 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
October 11, 1983 to October 19, 1983
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.6
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
EP191983

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 3,470 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 20.87 inches (530 mm).

StationTotalPosition
BAY CITY WATERWORKS20.87 in (530 mm)29.00N 95.97W
GRADY COUNTY (Just South of Chickasha)16.95 in (431 mm)35.20N 97.94W
SHAWNEE13.12 in (333 mm)35.33N 96.90W
PURCELL12.88 in (327 mm)35.03N 97.37W
PRAGUE 2W12.16 in (309 mm)35.48N 96.70W
NORMAN12.13 in (308 mm)35.23N 97.47W
MARLOW 1 WSW11.28 in (287 mm)34.65N 97.98W
SEMINOLE11.23 in (285 mm)35.23N 96.67W
WICHITA MTN WL REF11.03 in (280 mm)34.73N 98.72W
CHICKASHA EXP STN10.95 in (278 mm)35.05N 97.92W
MEEKER 5 W10.91 in (277 mm)35.50N 96.98W
DUNCAN 11 W10.80 in (274 mm)34.47N 98.15W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 11, 12:008.5N 100.4W25 ktTropical depression
Oct 11, 18:008.7N 100.9W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 12, 00:008.8N 101.4W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 12, 06:009.1N 102.0W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 12, 12:009.4N 102.6W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 12, 18:0010.2N 102.9W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 13, 00:0011.2N 102.9W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0012.1N 102.9W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0013.0N 102.9W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0013.8N 102.9W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0014.2N 102.9W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0014.7N 102.9W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0015.3N 103.1W75 ktHurricane
Oct 14, 18:0015.7N 103.3W80 ktHurricane
Oct 15, 00:0016.1N 103.6W75 ktHurricane
Oct 15, 06:0016.2N 103.9W75 ktHurricane
Oct 15, 12:0016.3N 104.2W80 ktHurricane
Oct 15, 18:0016.5N 104.5W80 ktHurricane
Oct 16, 00:0016.8N 104.9W80 ktHurricane
Oct 16, 06:0017.1N 105.4W75 ktHurricane
Oct 16, 12:0017.2N 106.0W80 ktHurricane
Oct 16, 18:0017.3N 106.8W95 ktHurricane
Oct 17, 00:0017.4N 107.4W100 ktHurricane
Oct 17, 06:0017.5N 108.4W90 ktHurricane
Oct 17, 12:0017.5N 109.0W100 ktHurricane
Oct 17, 18:0017.6N 109.7W100 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 00:0017.9N 110.1W100 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 06:0018.3N 110.4W105 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 12:0018.8N 110.4W110 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 18:0019.3N 110.2W105 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 00:0020.1N 109.5W115 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 06:0021.1N 108.3W110 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 12:0022.3N 107.0W110 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 18:0023.5N 105.5W75 ktExtratropical

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1983

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.