Hurricane Allen

Hurricane Allen was a powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck southern Texas. It was the first and strongest hurricane of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season. The first named storm and first tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season, it was one of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history, one of the few hurricanes to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale on three separate occasions, and spent more time as a Category 5 than any other Atlantic hurricane. Allen is the second of only two hurricanes in the recorded history of the Atlantic basin to achieve sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h), after Hurricane Camille in 1969.

Throughout its life, Allen moved through the deep tropics on a west-northwesterly course through the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico before making landfall near the United States/Mexico border. At peak strength, it passed near Haiti, causing hundreds of deaths and heavy damage. After crossing the Gulf of Mexico, Allen weakened as it struck the lower Texas coast, causing high winds, a significant storm surge, and heavy rainfall which caused damage to southern Texas. Overall, Allen killed 290 people and left just over $1.5 billion in damage (1980 USD), mostly within the United States and Haiti. Due to its impact, the name Allen was retired from the six-year revolving list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names in 1981 and the name was replaced by Andrew. The name Andrew was subsequently retired after the 1992 season's Hurricane Andrew. The dissipating storm precipitated the end of the Heat Wave of 1980 in places like Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, which had recorded 69 days of 100 °F (38 °C) heat.