Alicia is a retired Atlantic hurricane name. The World Meteorological Organization took it off the lists after the 1983 storm, so no future Atlantic storm will be called Alicia. Its place on the list now belongs to Andrea, on the 2031 list. Since 1983, two storms have been named Alicia; the strongest, in 1983, peaked as a Category 3 hurricane.
Yes. Alicia is on NHC’s list of retired Atlantic names because of the 1983 storm. It is one of 100 names retired there since 1954 (Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names).
A name is retired when a storm was so deadly or costly that using the name again would be insensitive; the World Meteorological Organization then picks a new name with the same first letter at its annual meeting.
It won’t be. Retired names are not used again on the Atlantic lists. Its place on the list, the A slot, now belongs to Andrea, on the 2031 Atlantic list, which is next used in 2031.
Alicia formed in the Southern Hemisphere in November 2020 and peaked as a Category 1 cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 978 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 9 days.
Cyclone Alicia (2020): track and historyAlicia formed in the Atlantic in August 1983 and peaked as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 962 mb. It made landfall near Hitchcock, United States. The system was tracked for 6 days.
Hurricane Alicia (1983): track and history| Storm | Landfall near | Date (UTC) | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alicia 1983 | Hitchcock, United States | 1983-08-18 07:00 | 115 mph / 185 km/h |
Names go in alphabetical order, one per storm, as each storm reaches tropical-storm strength (39 mph, 34 knots), so a storm’s place in its season decides its name.
In 1983, Alicia was the 1st name used in the Atlantic season.
Storms named Alicia appear in more than one ocean in our archive:
Each ocean region keeps its own name lists, drawn up by its own WMO regional committee (Tropical cyclone naming), so the same name can be given to unrelated storms in different oceans.
The most recent was Cyclone Alicia in 2020, in the Southern Hemisphere. It formed on November 11, peaked at 85 mph (140 km/h) and lasted 9 days. It did not make landfall. Before that, the name was used in 1983.
Hurricane Alicia in 1983 was the strongest, peaking as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 962 mb. It formed in the Atlantic in August and made landfall near Hitchcock, United States. The weakest of the two, in 2020, peaked at 85 mph (140 km/h).