Hurricane Alma (1966)
| Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Hurricane Alma offshore the United States East Coast
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| Formed | June 4, 1966 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | June 13, 1966 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 125 mph (205 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 970 mbar (hPa); 28.64 inHg |
| Fatalities | 91 total |
| Damage | $210.1 million (1966 USD) |
| Areas affected | Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, Florida, Georgia, The Carolinas, East Coast of the United States |
| Part of the 1966 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Alma was a rare June major hurricane in the 1966 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the earliest Atlantic hurricane in the calendar year in fifteen years, as well as the earliest continental U.S. hurricane strike since 1825. Alma developed on June 4 over Central America, and while moving through Honduras, it dropped heavy rainfall that killed at least 73 people in the city of San Rafael. Offshore northern Honduras, the system produced heavy rainfall in Swan Island. Alma moved northeastward and intensified into a hurricane on June 6. It crossed western Cuba, causing heavy crop damage and water shortages. Alma destroyed over 1,000 houses, and damage was estimated around $200 million (1966 USD). The storm killed 12 people in the country.
After crossing Cuba, Alma intensified further to reach winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane passed west of Key West, Florida, causing a power outage and flooding. Alma dropped heavy rainfall and produced winds across most of Florida, which damaged crops and caused scattered power outages. The hurricane weakened before moving ashore near Apalachee Bay. Damage in Florida was estimated at $10 million, and there were six deaths in the state. Alma crossed southeastern Georgia as a tropical storm, damaging a few houses and causing light damage. The storm re-intensified into a hurricane over the western Atlantic Ocean, and its outer rainbands dropped heavy rainfall in Wilmington, North Carolina. Alma encountered colder water temperatures and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on June 13. Its remnants dissipated a day later over Massachusetts.
During June 1966, low atmospheric pressure stretched across the western Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico—a pattern that is conducive for tropical cyclogenesis. During the first few days of the month, a dissipating trough extended from the southeastern United States into the western Caribbean. A mid-level circulation developed along the trough near Cabo Gracias a Dios on June 3. By the next day, the circulation had reached the surface, which marked the development of a tropical depression over eastern Nicaragua. On June 5, the depression crossed Honduras and emerged into the western Caribbean, moving north-northeastward through an area of warm sea surface temperatures. It had a good cyclonic circulation, convection, and moisture content, but most significantly, a passing trough to the north provided the depression with favorable outflow. On June 6, the depression rapidly intensified into Tropical Storm and later Hurricane Alma. This made it the earliest hurricane in the basin since Hurricane Able in 1951.
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