Meteorological History
The origins of Hurricane Barry can be traced to a tropical wave which moved off the western coast of Africa on August 13, 1983. Strong wind shear in the North Atlantic hurricane basin prevented significant development of the system as it traveled towards the west-northwest. Little convection was associated with the disturbance as a result of the shear. While approaching the Bahamas on August 22, an upper-level trough moved away from the system, which led to a decrease in the wind shear. The disturbance then entered this environment and spawned an area of low pressure which intensified. On August 23, the low had become sufficiently organized to be declared Tropical Depression Four. Later that day, the depression quickly strengthened into a tropical storm and was given the name Barry by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). About 12 hours after becoming a tropical storm, Barry reached its initial peak intensity with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h).
Barry then began a westerly course towards central Florida. However, wind shear began to increase, causing the system to weaken. The NHC downgraded the storm back to a tropical depression on August 25. Barry made landfall near Melbourne, Florida the same morning with winds of 35 mph (55 km/h). After crossing Florida, the depression traveled towards the west-southwest due to a strong upper-level flow. On August 27, Barry became sufficiently organized to be reclassified as a tropical storm while located in the central Gulf of Mexico. The re-strengthening was the result of decreased wind shear and more favorable conditions over the Gulf. The storm continued to become better organized as it traveled nearly due west towards Mexico. At 1200 UTC the next day, Barry was upgraded to a hurricane while located about 75 mi (120 km) southeast of Brownsville, Texas. The hurricane continued to intensify until it made landfall about 35 mi (55 km) south-southeast of Brownsville at peak intensity with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). The storm quickly weakened after landfall and dissipated the next day over northern Mexico.
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