It is hard to believe that 27 years ago tonight, on August 4, 1980, I was at my freshman orientation at Samford University.
The first named storm of the 1980 season had formed. With wide eyes and a career goal of being the Director of the National Hurricane Center, the latest information on Hurricane Allen was important to me.
Allen had formed on August 1st. When the first reconnaissance flight reached Allen on the afternoon of the 3rd, it was obvious that the first named storm of 1980 was going to be a powerhouse. Allen already had a central pressure of 967 mb. It passed through the islands with a central pressure of 951 mb.
On the evening of Monday, the 4th, in my dorm room, I listened intently to advisories on my portable National Weather Service radio as the pressure continued to plummet. They read the advisories on the NWS radio back then. even had my roommates interested in the historic freefall, and before the night was over, the pressure dropped to 911 mb while the storm was south of Puerto Rico.
Allen dodged and weaved through the islands of the Caribbean over the next five days before moving into the Gulf of Mexico on the night of the 8th.
The hurricane achieved Category Five status three different times. Three distinct pressure minima were observed. 911 mb south of Puerto Rico on the 4th, 899 mb in the Yucatan Channel on the afternoon of August 7th (a record then) and 909 mb over the Gulf on the evening of August 8th.
It would go on to strike South Texas on August 10th. Fortunately, Allen weakened significantly before its U.S. landfall.
