Tropical storm Alma

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tropical storm Alma
Tropical Storm ( SSHWS )
Tropical Storm Alma before hitting land
Tropical Storm Alma before hitting land
Emergence May 29, 2008
resolution May 30, 2008
Peak wind
speed
65  mph (100  km / h ) (sustained for 1 minute)
Lowest air pressure 994  mbar ( hPa ; 29.4  inHg )
dead 4 direct, 7 indirect
Property damage US $ 35 million (2008)
Affected
areas 		Central America
Season overview:
2008 Pacific hurricane season

Tropical Storm Alma was the first tropical cyclone of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season . The storm originated further east than any tropical cyclone previously seen in the Pacific Basin. It formed on May 29 within the trade wind zone just off the coast of Costa Rica . The original projections assumed Alma would remain weak, but then the storm intensified rapidly and developed an eye before crossing the Nicaraguan coastline near León with sustained winds of 100 km / h . Alma was the first tropical storm to hit the Pacific coast of this Central American state. In Costa Rica, heavy rain caused flash floods and landslides , killing two people and causing $ 35 million in property damage . Three people died in the aftermath of the storm in Nicaragua, five more died in Honduras in an airplane crash, which was most likely caused by the storm, and one person was washed away by floods. Alma was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall on the Pacific coast of Central America since the 1968 Pacific hurricane season .

Storm course

Alma Railway

Towards the end of May 2008, the weather forecasting models forecast the formation of an extensive tropical low pressure area southwest of Central America . On May 26, a large trough reached from the southwestern Caribbean across Costa Rica to the eastern Pacific Ocean, forming a vast depression that stretched across this region. Convection formed in a fragmented area, partly in connection with the intertropical convergence zone . Since this disturbance was only surrounded by weak control currents, the system remained almost stationary, and on May 27th the shower activity gained organization. Initially, the system consisted of several cyclonic eddies, the most noticeable of which was about 550 km west-southwest of San José , Costa Rica. The system organized itself better and better and when the circulation and structure of the convection had sufficiently built up, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified the system on May 29 at 3:00 a.m. UTC as tropical depression One-E, about 165 km west- northwest of Cabo Blanco , Costa Rica.

Due to a subtropical ridge located in the Gulf of Mexico , the system drifted northward through an area with higher water temperatures and low wind shear . The convection of the system was weak at first and produced only a few rain bands far from the center. Therefore, no intensification beyond the strength of a weak tropical storm was expected. However, the system quickly developed violent thunderstorms near the center, and the rain bands in the southern semicircle expanded. At 3:00 p.m. UTC, the NHC upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Alma, about 85 km southwest of Managua , Nicaragua . At this point the NHC assumed sustained wind speeds of 75 km / h and only expected a slight intensification before the storm would come over land. Just an hour later, the NHC reassessed the situation based on satellite images and QuikSCAT evaluations and assumed wind speeds of 100 km / h. A cyclonic eye formed, which was surrounded by a very narrow convection ring. At around 7:00 p.m. UTC on May 29, Alma's center near León, Nicaragua, crossed the coast as a strong tropical storm. Alma weakened rapidly overland; however, a small thunderstorm area persisted and crossed the mountainous region in southern Honduras . After the system passed near Tegucigalpa , the NHC downgraded Alma to a tropical depression, and on May 30 at 3:00 p.m. UTC the cyclone cleared near the Honduras- Guatemala border . On May 31st, after crossing Central America, the Almas remaining low reached the Gulf of Honduras , where it was involved in the formation of Tropical Storm Arthur .

Preparations and implications

Rainy areas due to Alma and Arthur

Along with the first storm information from the NHC, the Costa Rican government issued a storm warning for the entire Pacific coast of the state. At the time the system was named Alma, around four hours before landfall, warnings of a tropical storm were in effect for the entire Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador . When it turned out that the storm was much stronger than expected, hurricane warnings were issued for the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras and Alma was predicted to intensify into a hurricane . Before the storm pushed over the mainland, the NHC warned that the storm could produce heavy rains with a rainfall of up to 500 mm, causing flash floods and landslides. The national emergency commission of Costa Rica opened emergency shelters before the arrival of the storm, and around 250 residents in the canton of Parrita left their homes as a precaution. In Nicaragua, the authorities evacuated around five thousand residents and three thousand soldiers were put on standby to help clear the storm.

Alma generated moderate to heavy rainfall over mainland Central America. In the city of David in western Panama , 141 mm of precipitation was measured within 48 hours, while the capital of Costa Rica, San José , reported 78 mm of precipitation within this period. In Costa Rica, the rains caused floods that threatened a total of seventeen communities. It also caused mudslides and landslides, disrupting at least eight road links. The storm uprooted trees and tore down power lines, cutting off electricity supplies to 42,000 residents of the state. Two casualties were reported from the country and property damage was estimated at 20 billion colons (around 35 million US dollars in 2008 ).

In León, the Alma march destroyed several buildings and damaged some roads. In a large part of the departments of León and Chinandega , the power supply was interrupted by the strong winds. One person died of electric shock from a drooping power cable, and another died in a similar manner. A man drowned in a boat at sea. In Tegucigalpa , TACA Flight 390 slipped off the runway. Three passengers and two people were killed on the ground and more than eighty people were injured. The death of a girl was reported in Honduras after being carried away by a watercourse swirled by floodwater.

Weather records and name deletion

Satellite image of Alma shortly before the name was given

Forming at 86.5 ° west longitude , Alma formed further east than any other tropical cyclone observed in the Pacific Ocean to date. Apart from areas that migrated from the Atlantic to the Pacific, only seven other systems have formed east of the 90th western longitude: Francesca (1970), Bridget and Priscilla (1971), Jimena (1979), Paul (1982), Cristina (1996 ) and Rosa (2000). Alma's landfall point is further east than any other recorded tropical cyclone in the Pacific, and it was the first such event on the Nicaraguan Pacific coast. When the storm formed on May 29, it extended a series to nine years in which Pacific tropical cyclones formed in May. The remains of Alma contributed to the formation of Tropical Storm Arthur in the Atlantic Basin; strictly speaking, they are not the same system as Alma's circulation had previously disintegrated. The transition from Pacific systems to the Atlantic area is rarer than the other way around; the last time before this happened with the residual low of Hurricane Cosme during the 1989 hurricane season , which then became Tropical Storm Allison .

On April 22, 2009, the World Meteorological Organization removed the name Alma from the list of tropical cyclone names for the eastern Pacific Ocean and replaced it with Amanda for the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season . Usually names repeat themselves after a waiting period of six years, while names of storms that have caused serious property damage or death toll are not given again. Alma thus became the first tropical storm in the eastern Pacific - and is also the weakest storm in this regard - the course of which led to its name being deleted.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Nelson: May 26 Tropical Weather Discussion for the Eastern Pacific Ocean ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Accessed on May 28, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: dead link / ftp.met.fsu.edu  
  2. ↑ Berg: May 26 Tropical Weather Discussion for the Atlantic Ocean ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Accessed on May 28, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: dead link / ftp.met.fsu.edu  
  3. ↑ James Franklin, Chris Landsea: May 27 Tropical Weather Outlook ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Accessed on May 28, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: dead link / ftp.met.fsu.edu  
  4. ↑ Nelson: May 27 Tropical Weather Discussion for the Eastern Pacific Ocean ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Accessed on May 28, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: dead link / ftp.met.fsu.edu  
  5. ^ A b c Franklin / Rhome: Tropical Depression One-E Discussion One ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  6. ↑ Avila / Roberts: Tropical Storm Alma Discussion Three ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  7. ^ A b Avila: Tropical Storm Alma Special Discussion Four ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  8. ↑ a b c Brown: Tropical Cyclone Report: Tropical Storm Alma ( English , PDF; 372 kB) National Hurricane Center . 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2008.
  9. ↑ Avila / Roberts: Tropical Storm Alma Discussion Five ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  10. ↑ Avila / Roberts: Tropical Storm Alma Public Advisory Five ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  11. ↑ a b Knabb / Blake: Tropical Storm Alma Discussion Six ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  12. ^ Beven: Tropical Depression Alma Discussion Seven ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  13. ↑ Avila: Tropical Depression Alma Discussion Eight ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  14. ↑ a b Avila / Rhome: Tropical Storm Arthur Special Discussion One ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  15. ^ Franklin / Rhome: Tropical Depression One-E Public Advisory One ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  16. ↑ a b Avila / Roberts: Tropical Storm Alma Public Advisory Three ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  17. ↑ Avila: Tropical Storm Alma Special Public Advisory Four ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  18. ↑ a b c El País: Alma deja un muerto y cientos de evacuados a su paso por Centroamérica (Spanish) . May 30, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008. 
  19. ↑ Filadelfo Aleman: Tormenta tropical Alma golpea Centroamérica (Spanish) , El Nuevo Herald . May 29, 2008. 
  20. ↑ Berg: May 29 Atlantic Tropical Weather Discussion ( English ) National Hurricane Center. 2008. Accessed on May 29, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: dead link / ftp.met.fsu.edu  
  21. ↑ Werner Stolz and Gabriela Chinchilla: Tormenta Tropical Alma y sus efectos en Costa Rica (27-30 de mayo de 2008) ( Spanish , PDF; 575 kB) Instituto Meteorólogico Nacional. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 28, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.imn.ac.cr
  22. ↑ Tropical Storm Alma it out over Central America (English) , Reuters UK. May 31, 2008. 
  23. ^ Agence France-Presse: Un muerto y daños por paso de tormenta "Alma" (Spanish) . May 29, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008. 
  24. ↑ a b National Hurricane Center: Eastern Pacific hurricane best track analysis 1949-2014 ( English ) United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research. October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  25. ↑ Stephen Caparotta, D. Walston, Steven Yound, & Gary Padgett: Subject: E15) What tropical storms and hurricanes have moved from the Atlantic to the Northeast Pacific or vice versa? ( English ) In: Frequently Asked Questions . Hurricane Research Division, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory . Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  26. ↑ Landsea, Chris : Subject: B5) What happens to the name of a tropical cyclone if it moves from the Atlantic regions to the Northeast Pacific, or vice versa? ( English ) In: Frequently Asked Questions . Hurricane Research Division, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory . Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  27. ↑ World Meteorological Organization: Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names ( English ) National Hurricane Center. April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.

Web links

Commons : Tropical Storm Alma  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files