Track map & timeline · Atlantic · July 31 – August 11, 1980
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Hurricane Allen (1980) was a Category 5 hurricane of the 1980 Atlantic season. It formed on July 31, 1980, reached its peak of 190 mph (306 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 899 mb on August 7, 1980, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 52 mph in 24 hours (to 127 mph on August 4, 1980). The storm lasted 11.3 days and travelled about 5,057 miles (8,137 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston, Jamaica | 44 mi | Aug 6 · 08:00 UTC | Cat 4 132 mph |
| New Kingston, Jamaica | 43 mi | Aug 6 · 08:00 UTC | Cat 4 132 mph |
| Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico | 49 mi | Aug 7 · 19:00 UTC | Cat 5 188 mph |
| Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico | 24 mi | Aug 10 · 07:00 UTC | Cat 3 112 mph |
| Brownsville, Texas | 23 mi | Aug 10 · 07:00 UTC | Cat 3 112 mph |
| Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico | 41 mi | Aug 10 · 11:00 UTC | Cat 2 101 mph |
| McAllen, Texas | 32 mi | Aug 10 · 11:00 UTC | Cat 2 101 mph |
| Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico | direct hit | Aug 10 · 22:00 UTC | TS 73 mph |
| Laredo, Texas | direct hit | Aug 10 · 22:00 UTC | TS 73 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31 12:00 | TD low/wave | 29 mph | — | 11.0°N 30.0°W | open ocean |
| Jul 31 18:00 | TD low/wave | 29 mph | — | 10.9°N 32.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 1 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1010 mb | 10.8°N 34.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 1 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1009 mb | 10.7°N 36.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 1 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1008 mb | 10.7°N 38.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 1 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1006 mb | 10.7°N 40.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 2 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1005 mb | 11.0°N 42.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 2 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1000 mb | 11.4°N 44.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 2 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | 995 mb | 11.9°N 46.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 2 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | 990 mb | 12.3°N 49.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 3 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 985 mb | 12.4°N 51.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 3 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 980 mb | 12.6°N 53.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 3 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 975 mb | 12.8°N 55.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 3 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 965 mb | 12.9°N 57.5°W | 143 mi E of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Aug 4 00:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | 950 mb | 13.3°N 59.1°W | 37 mi ENE of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Aug 4 06:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 948 mb | 13.6°N 61.0°W | 23 mi SSW of Dennery, Saint Lucia |
| Aug 4 12:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 945 mb | 14.0°N 63.0°W | 136 mi WSW of Fort-de-France, Martinique |
| Aug 4 18:00 | Cat 4 | 150 mph | 930 mb | 14.4°N 64.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 00:00 | Cat 5 | 161 mph | 911 mb | 14.8°N 66.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 06:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 916 mb | 15.4°N 68.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 12:00 | Cat 5 | 178 mph | 932 mb | 15.9°N 70.5°W | 164 mi SSE of Santa Cruz de Barahona, Dominican Republic |
| Aug 5 18:00 | Cat 5 | 173 mph | 940 mb | 16.5°N 72.3°W | 112 mi SSW of Pedernales, Dominican Republic |
| Aug 6 00:00 | Cat 5 | 161 mph | 945 mb | 17.8°N 73.8°W | 27 mi S of Les Cayes, Haiti |
| Aug 6 06:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 955 mb | 18.3°N 75.9°W | 37 mi ENE of Port Antonio, Jamaica |
| Aug 6 12:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 955 mb | 19.2°N 78.0°W | 51 mi N of Montego Bay, Jamaica |
| Aug 6 18:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 955 mb | 20.0°N 80.1°W | 85 mi ENE of Further Ground, Cayman Islands |
| Aug 7 00:00 | Cat 4 | 155 mph | 945 mb | 20.1°N 81.9°W | 60 mi NNW of West Bay, Cayman Islands |
| Aug 7 06:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 935 mb | 20.4°N 83.6°W | 115 mi SSW of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba |
| Aug 7 12:00 | Cat 5 | 178 mph | 910 mb | 21.0°N 84.8°W | 95 mi SSW of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba |
| Aug 7 18:00 | Cat 5 | 190 mph | 899 mb | 21.8°N 86.4°W | 52 mi NNE of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
| Aug 8 00:00 | Cat 5 | 178 mph | 920 mb | 22.2°N 87.9°W | 75 mi NNE of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico |
| Aug 8 06:00 | Cat 4 | 150 mph | 945 mb | 22.8°N 89.2°W | 109 mi NNE of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico |
| Aug 8 12:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 960 mb | 23.4°N 90.5°W | 156 mi NNW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico |
| Aug 8 18:00 | Cat 4 | 150 mph | 940 mb | 23.9°N 91.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 9 00:00 | Cat 5 | 167 mph | 912 mb | 24.5°N 93.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 9 06:00 | Cat 5 | 178 mph | 909 mb | 25.0°N 94.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 9 12:00 | Cat 5 | 161 mph | 916 mb | 25.2°N 95.4°W | 139 mi ESE of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Aug 9 18:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | 925 mb | 25.4°N 96.1°W | 94 mi ESE of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Aug 10 00:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | 935 mb | 25.8°N 96.8°W | 44 mi E of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Aug 10 06:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 945 mb | 26.1°N 97.2°W | 24 mi NE of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Aug 10 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 960 mb | 26.7°N 98.1°W | 28 mi N of Edinburg, Texas |
| Aug 10 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 970 mb | 27.3°N 99.0°W | 34 mi ESE of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Aug 11 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | 990 mb | 27.7°N 99.8°W | 23 mi NW of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Aug 11 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1000 mb | 28.0°N 100.9°W | 17 mi NE of Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico |
| Aug 11 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1005 mb | 28.5°N 101.9°W | 49 mi NNW of Ciudad Melchor Múzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico |
| Aug 11 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1008 mb | 28.9°N 102.9°W | 102 mi ESE of Manuel Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Allen. Its closest approach to a major city was 4 miles from Laredo, Texas.
At its peak on August 7, 1980, Allen was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 190 mph (306 km/h) and a central pressure of 899 mb.
11.3 days, from July 31, 1980 to August 11, 1980, including 192 hours at hurricane strength (156 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,057 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
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