Hurricane Alma (1970)

Hurricane Alma

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Alma on May 20
Formed	May 17, 1970
Dissipated	May 26, 1970
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 80 mph (130 km/h)
Lowest pressure	993 mbar (hPa); 29.32 inHg
Fatalities	8 total
Areas affected	Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Southeast United States
Part of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Alma was one of only four Atlantic tropical cyclones to reach hurricane status in the month of May. It developed on May 17, 1970 north of Panama, and rapidly intensified on May 20 to peak winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. It stalled south of Cuba and deteriorated due to wind shear, and by May 22 it weakened to tropical depression status. After progressing northwestward and crossing western Cuba, Alma reorganized in the Gulf of Mexico, although continued shear prevented strengthening. It moved across Florida on May 25, and on May 27 it dissipated off the coast of Virginia.

The storm first brought gusty winds and heavy rainfall to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. While it was weakening, Alma produced flooding in central and eastern Cuba, causing seven deaths and forcing 3,000 people to evacuate. Moderate precipitation spread across Florida, while thunderstorms from the storm caused light damage and killed one girl. Moisture from the storm spread up the Atlantic coast.

Late on May 17, the US National Hurricane Center, reported that a tropical depression had formed about 470 miles (760 km) to the southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. Over the next couple of days, the depression became better organized as it moved towards the northwest; on May 19 it entered an area of favorable environmental conditions, which enabled the depression to rapidly intensify. On May 20 it strengthened into a tropical storm, at which point it was given the name Alma. That day, it rapidly strengthened under favorable developmental conditions, which included low wind shear, strong upper-level outflow, and apparent eastward inflow. Later on May 20, a Navy reconnaissance plane recorded winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), which proved to be the peak intensity of Alma. It became one of only four Atlantic hurricanes on record in the month of May.

Subsequent to its peak intensity, increasing westerly shear disrupted the storm's circulation and thermal pattern, which caused rapid weakening to tropical storm strength and later tropical depression status. By May 22, the low pressure area became poorly defined after stalling south of Cuba; with only a few squalls and showers, advisories were discontinued on Alma. The remnants of Alma continued westward near the Cayman Islands, and later turned to the north, passing over western Cuba.