User:Hurricane Angel Saki/Sandbox/Tropical Storm Alma (1974)

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This article is about the Atlantic tropical storm of 1974; for other storms named Alma, see Hurricane Alma.
Tropical Storm Alma (1974)
Tropical storm (SSHWS/NWS)
Tropical Storm Alma around peak intensity on August 13.
FormedAugust 12, 1974
DissipatedAugust 15, 1974
Highest winds1-minute sustained: 65 mph (100 km/h)
Lowest pressure1007 mbar (hPa); 29.74 inHg
Fatalities2 direct, 47 indirect
Areas affectedTrinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia, Netherlands Antilles, ABC Islands
Part of the 1974 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Alma, the first named storm to develop in the 1974 Atlantic hurricane season, was a very short lived tropical storm that made a rare Venezuelan landfall after making the southernmost tropical cyclone landfall on Trinidad since a storm in 1933. The storm formed from an area of cumulonimbus clouds along a disturbance associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) on August 12, but advisories were not issued until August 13, when it was named at peak intensity. After being named, Alma moved at an unusually brisk pace of between 20 mph (32 km/h) to 25 mph (40 km/h) through the southeastern Carribean Sea, causing numerous watches and gale warnings to be issued throughout the Carribean, including Columbia. This brisk pace was also responsible for the small amount of time it spent over Trinidad, which totalled three hours.

Alma was notable for its high forward speed, unusually low latitude, and for indirectly causing a plane crash when a Venezuelan passenger plane crashed on Isla Margarita, killing all but one aboard. The plane crash was responsible for 47 deaths, with two other deaths being reported on Trinidad. Damage totals from the hurricane are unknown.

Storm history[edit]

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
Map key
Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

The initial formation of Alma was traced back to a strong tropical disturbance associated with the ITCZ that left the coast of Africa on August 9.[1] Around this time, Dakar, Senegal was reporting mid-tropospheric winds of 75 mph (121 km/h), the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.[2] A collection of rapidly-forming cumulonimbus clouds were observed to grow along the area and merge together, forming a tropical disturbance with a weak cyclonic vortex on August 10.[3] The disturbance moved slowly over the Atlantic Ocean, with movie loops showing signs of a circulation on August 11, but it wasn't until the next day when ship reports showed that the disturbance became a tropical depression at 18:00 UTC around 10° north latitude,[2] a latitude it would remain around throughout its lifetime.[4] Although it was at depression strength, operationally, it wasn't until Navy recon reached the storm on August 13 and reported winds of 65 mph (105 km/h), gusts of up to 75 mph (121 km/h), and a central pressure of 1007 mbar that advisories were started and the storm was named Alma while the center was 375 miles (604 km) east of Trinidad and Tobago.[2][5] This same pass also reported that the storm had a circular eye with a diameter of 36 miles (58 km); the only report of an eye from this storm.[6] The storm's center was alligned more to the south, causing gale-force winds to extend 75 miles (121 km) to the north while extending only 25 miles (40 km) to the south.[7] At the time, further intensification was predicted and the possibility that Alma could reach hurricane strength prior to landfall on Trinidad was given,[8] but the storm would not strengthen past the peak it reached when Navy recon investigated the cyclone, although an Air Force plane reported a squall of 80 mph (130 km/h) at flight level.[2]

After being named, Alma moved eastward at a pace of 23 mph (37 km/h), which NHC Director Neil Frank noted was unusually rapid for a tropical cyclone at this time and location, while causing sea levels to rise up to 15 ft (4.6 m) ahead of it.[7] Alma was able to move and maintain its low latitude movement to the west due to a strong subtropical ridge, which was at an unusually lower latitude than expected in August.[1] On August 14, the storm made landfall on Trinidad with winds of 55 mph (89 km/h),[9] becoming the southernmost landfall on that island since a storm in 1933.[1] The storm moved across Trinidad in only three hours,[10] and, although disrupted from its landfall and barely tropical, it was able to maintain itself despite the high forward speed preventing any reintensification.[11] The storm transitioned the Gulf of Paria then made its second and final landfall on the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela.[10] The high mountains in Venezuela took a large toll on the storm, ripping the circulation and causing Alma to be downgraded to a tropical depression on August 15 while crossing Lake Maracaibo.[12] The final advisory issued on the cyclone by the National Hurricane Center showed that the remains of Alma were in the northern part of Columbia, still moving at 25 mph (40 km/h),[13] and later that day, all identity of the cyclone disappeared.[2] Although the possibility was given that Alma could reintensify upon exiting land into the southwestern Caribbean Sea,[12], the storm did not redevelop east of Central America. However, the remnants of Alma would eventually travel westward, reaching the Pacific Ocean where they would reintensify, becoming Hurricane Joyce.[14]

Impact, Records, and Naming[edit]

Tropical Storm Alma over Trinidad on August 14.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c John R. Hope (1974). "Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1975" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  2. ^ a b c d e National Hurricane Center (1974). "Tropical Storm Alma Tropical Cyclone Report". Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  3. ^ Helmut K. Weickmann, Alexis B. Long, and L. Ray Hoxit (1977). "Some Examples of Rapidly Growing Oceanic Cumulonimbus Clouds" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-01-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ UNISYS (2007). "UNISYS Best Track: Tropical Storm Alma". Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  5. ^ "Tropical Storm Alma Growing". Florence Morning News. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  6. ^ John R. Hope and Staff (1976). "Annual Data and Verification Tabulation of Atlantic Cyclones 1974" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  7. ^ a b "Tropical Storm Alma Threatens East Carribean". Coshocton Tribune. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  8. ^ "Tropical Storm Alma Threatens To Get Bigger". Playground Daily News. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  9. ^ "Caribbean Isles Batten Down As 'Alma' Hits". Baytown Sun. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  10. ^ a b "Storm Crosses Trinidad". Galveston County Daily News. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  11. ^ "Tropical Storm Punch Continues". Winona Daily News. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  12. ^ a b "Storm Alma Downgraded". Charleston Gazette. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  13. ^ "Storm Loses Punch". Galveston Daily News. 1974. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  14. ^ Neil Frank (1974). "Atlantic Tropical Systems of 1974" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-01-05.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracks1851to2007_atl.txt http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=67222957_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=8&currentPage=60

See also[edit]


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