hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1983 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 6 storms · 23 Jul 1983–30 Sept 1983

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY17.4
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1983 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 6 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalUnnamed: 23 Jul–28 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 27 Jul–2 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionAlicia: 15 Aug–20 Aug, peak 100 kt, Category 3Barry: 23 Aug–29 Aug, peak 70 kt, Category 1Chantal: 10 Sep–15 Sep, peak 65 kt, Category 1Dean: 27 Sep–30 Sep, peak 55 kt, Tropical storm

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,760
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—2,150
Alicia–100Cat 39621,120
Barry–70Cat 19861,470
Chantal–65Cat 19941,110
Dean–55Tropical storm999780

6 storms with an IBTrACS 1983 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 23 Jul 1983, last 30 Sept 1983.

Tropical storms4

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes3

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)1

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormAlicia

100 kt · 115 mph / 185 km/h

Lowest pressure962 hPa

Alicia, 18 Aug 1983

Longest track record6 days

Unnamed, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1983 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 3 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 4 tropical storms, with 1 major hurricane reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season?

Alicia, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 100 kt (Category 3) on 18 Aug 1983, 06:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 962 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1983?

None. No storm in the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 23 Jul 1983 and the last on 30 Sept 1983, from 6 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season?

Alicia, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 17 Aug 1983, 00:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 1983 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology