Tropical Storm Alma

Tropical Storm Alma

Tropical storm (SSHWS/NWS)
Tropical Storm Alma before landfall at peak intensity
Formed	May 29, 2008
Dissipated	May 30, 2008
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 65 mph (100 km/h)
Lowest pressure	994 mbar (hPa); 29.35 inHg
Fatalities	4 direct, 7 indirect
Damage	$35 million (2008 USD)
Areas affected	Central America
Part of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season

Tropical Storm Alma of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season was the easternmost forming Pacific tropical cyclone on record. It formed within the monsoon trough just off the coast of Costa Rica on May 29. Initially forecast to remain a weak tropical storm, the cyclone rapidly strengthened and developed an eye before making landfall in Nicaragua near León with peak winds of 65 mph (100 km/h). Alma was the first tropical storm on record to strike the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides, killing two and causing $35 million (USD) in damage. Three people were killed in Nicaragua, one from drowning and two others from electrocution. Five others died in Honduras from an aviation accident likely related to the storm and one other was swept away in floodwaters.

Towards the end of May 2008, computer hurricane models forecast the development of a broad low pressure area to the southwest of Central America. On May 26, a large trough extended from the southwestern Caribbean Sea across Costa Rica into the eastern Pacific Ocean, forming a broad low pressure area across the region. A scattered area of strong convection developed, partially in association with the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Located within an area of weak steering currents, the disturbance remained nearly stationary, and on May 27 its shower activity increased in organization. Initially the system consisted of several cyclonic swirls, of which the most pronounced one was located about 340 miles (550 km) west-southwest of San José, Costa Rica. The system gradually became better organized, and with a sufficiently well-developed circulation and convective structure, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified the system as Tropical Depression One-E at 0300 UTC on May 29, about 105 miles (165 km) west-northwest of Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica.