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All storm pages · 1983 Atlantic season

Hurricane Alicia 1983

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · August 15 to August 20, 1983

No other storm of the 1983 Atlantic season matched Alicia's 115 mph peak; the season had 6 storms. It generated 38% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1983 storm. It came ashore in Texas as a Category 3 hurricane on August 18, 1983, with 115 mph winds. The name Alicia is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Alicia (1983) from the best-track record, coloured by strength30°N35°N40°N105°W100°W95°W90°W85°WHoustonFt. WorthTexas, 115 mphPeak 115 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Alicia (1983) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120Aug 16Aug 17Aug 18Aug 19Aug 20Aug 21mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 160 miles south of Houma, Louisiana
  2. Tropical storm 165 miles south of Houma, Louisiana
  3. Hurricane 160 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas
  4. Major hurricane 20 miles east of Freeport, Texas
  5. Peak 20 miles east of Freeport, Texas; lowest pressure 962 mb
  6. Landfall Texas
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) near Woodward, Oklahoma
  8. Last record 30 miles north-northwest of Lincoln, Nebraska

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind115 mph · tied 281st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure962 mb · tied 275th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy6.4 · tied 732nd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone4.5 days · tied 1009th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1983 season

04080120Alicia

Storm 3 of 6 in 1983, hurricane 1 of 3; it formed after Storm 2 of 1983 and before Barry. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Cleburne, Texas2 mi35 mphAugust 19
Lawton, Oklahoma10 mi30 mphAugust 19
Wichita Falls, Texas12 mi30 mphAugust 19
Houston, Texas12 mi90 mphAugust 18
Bryan, Texas13 mi45 mphAugust 18
Ft. Worth, Texas14 mi35 mphAugust 19
Pasadena, Texas17 mi100 mphAugust 18
Texas City, Texas18 mi110 mphAugust 18

Every storm within 50 miles of Houston, Texas

Similar landfalls in Texas

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Texas came closest to Alicia's 115 mph:

  • Bret (1999)115 mph, August 23, 1999
  • Storm 5 of 1945115 mph, August 27, 1945
  • Storm 3 of 1942115 mph, August 30, 1942
  • Storm 2 of 1919115 mph, September 14, 1919

All 95 storms with a landfall record in Texas

Also peaked at 115 mph

Of 64 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Floyd (1981)975 mb, no landfall record
  • Frances (1980)958 mb, no landfall record
  • Frances (1976)963 mb, no landfall record
  • Caroline (1975)961 mb, landfall in Tamaulipas