Today in Severe Weather History for August 10

Satellite images of Hurricane Allen

On this date in 1980, Hurricane Allen blasted on shore in South Texas, making landfall near Port Mansfield as a strong category 3 storm.  Allen produced wind gusts near 140 mph at Port Mansfield and 92 mph at Corpus Christi.  Wind gusts of 105-110 mph were recorded at Port Aransas, near Corpus Christi.

Tornado production was also very high in association with Allen.  At least 24 tornadoes were reported across central & south Texas.  Some were strong and long tracked, which is somewhat unusual in association with a tropical system.  The metropolitan Austin area was particularly hard hit, with significant tornadoes reported in both Hays and Travis counties.  Damage associated with these 2 tornadoes in particular totaled over $275 million.  The Hays county tornado produced damage along a path 24 miles long and 33 yards wide.  The Travis county tornado produced damage for just over 5 miles and was nearly 150 yards wide at times.

  
Flooding was also widespread across south Texas in association with Allen.  Rainfall  amounts of 15-20 inches were common across the Rio Grande Valley.  Even points further North experienced heavy rain and flooding, with 15 inches reported in San Antonio and 10-15 inches in Corpus Christi.

A total of 7 deaths in Texas are known to be associated with Allen, which is rather remarkable considering the widespread damage and variety of severe weather that the system produced across the state.


Here is a link to a YouTube video put together by Jim Leonard which chronicles the events of Allen from Jamaica on August 6th through landfall in Texas on the 10th.