Hurricane Allen

Hurricane Allen was the most powerful Atlantic hurricane by wind speed on record. The second tropical depression and first named storm of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season, Allen was also the seventh most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure. It was one of the few hurricanes to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson scale on three occasions, and spent more time at Category 5 status than all but two other Atlantic hurricanes. Allen is the only hurricane in the recorded history of the Atlantic basin to achieve sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h), and until Hurricane Patricia in 2015, these were also the highest sustained winds in the Western Hemisphere. Hurricane Allen was also the third most powerful tropical cyclone to exist in the Gulf of Mexico in terms of pressure, behind hurricanes Milton in 2024 and Rita in 2005. Throughout its track, Allen moved through the deep tropics on a westward to northwestward course across the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico before making its final landfall near the United States–Mexico border. At peak strength, the hurricane 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 resulted in considerable damage to South Texas. Overall, Allen killed at least 281 people and left $1.57 billion in damages (1980 US dollars), mostly in Haiti and the United States. Due to the hurricane's impact, the name Allen was retired from the six-year revolving list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names in 1981 and replaced by Andrew. The remnants of the storm caused a brief lapse in the heat wave of 1980 in places like Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, which had recorded 69 days of 100 °F (38 °C) heat.