Hurricane Alicia

About Hurricane Alicia

Hurricane Alicia was the third depression, first storm, and the only major hurricane of the inactive 1983 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the first hurricane to strike the United States mainland since Hurricane Allen of the 1980 season. It struck Galveston and Houston, Texas directly, causing $2.6 billion USD ($5.27 billion 2006 USD) in damage and killing 21 people, making it the worst Texas hurricane since Hurricane Carla (1961 season). Hurricane Alicia became the last major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) to strike Texas until the stronger Hurricane Bret in 1999 made landfall. Alicia was the first storm for which the National Hurricane Center issued landfall probabilities. Alicia became Texas' first billion-dollar storm. Hurricane Alicia was notable for the delayed evacuation of Galveston Island (since the eye of the storm traveled the evacuation route up I-45 from Galveston to Houston) and was notable for the new skyscrapers with loose rooftop gravel/objects that shattered many windows in downtown Houston, prompting changes to rooftop construction codes.

Hurricane Alicia hit southeast Texas, becoming the first hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Allen in September 1980. The time between the two storms totaled out to three years and eight days (998 days). The streak was the longest since a period of almost three years occurred from September 1929 to August 1932.

A mesoscale low formed off the Alabama and Mississippi coasts on August 14 with a weak frontal trough that had formed off New England. Pressures were high in the Gulf of Mexico, but the low strengthened into Tropical Depression Three on August 15. A ship located within 60 miles (97 km) of the depression reported a pressure of 1015.5 millibars, and the storm was upgraded to Tropical Storm Alicia late on August 15. With the high Gulf pressures, Alicia was unable to gain size, staying very small, but generated faster winds, and became a Category 1 hurricane on August 16. Steering currents were weak during Alicia's lifetime over water. A new frontal ridge had formed on August 17 which caused the storm to drift in a westerly direction. Alicia continued west until the frontal ridge had subsided to the east. Alicia turned to a more northerly direction on August 18, towards Port Arthur, Texas. During that time, the hurricane began to gain strength at about 1 mbar an hour, peaking at 963 mbar with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on the morning of the 18th. Just before landfall, Alicia exhibited a rare "double eye" feature for several hours. The storm made landfall near Galveston, Texas as a Category 3 hurricane at about 1:45 a.m. CDT on Thursday, August 18. Alicia weakened rapidly after landfall, losing tropical characteristics and accelerated to the northwest, finally losing its identity in the southeast tip of Nebraska on August 21.