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On This Day in 1966: Hurricane Alma Strikes Florida Panhandle
June 9, 2021 at 06:38 AM EDT
By WeatherBug's Intern Meteorologist, Christopher Smith
On this day 55 years ago, Hurricane Alma made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, making it the earliest hurricane to strike the contingent U.S. in more than 140 years.
Hurricane season begins June 1, and the 1966 season took no time to get going. On June 4, 1966, the first tropical depression of the season formed near Nicaragua. Moving north into the western Caribbean Sea, Alma formed and rapidly strengthened as it took advantage of the already warm waters.
Alma would become a hurricane as it made landfall in western Cuba. Despite the land interaction, which typically weakens tropical systems, Hurricane Alma actually gained strength.
Barreling toward the U.S., Alma became a major hurricane near Key West, Fla., packing winds of 125 mph, a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The storm then tracked parallel to the western coast of Florida, slowly weakening, but remaining a hurricane. Hurricane Alma would then make landfall on the Florida Panhandle near Apalachee Bay, Fla., with sustained winds of 90 mph, making it a strong Category 1 hurricane.
Making landfall in the contingent U.S., Alma was the earliest hurricane to do so since 1825, when a strong tropical system believed to reach hurricane-strength struck the eastern U.S. Records from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began in 1850, so it is difficult to verify storms occurring prior as modern observation methods weren’t yet available.
Hurricane Alma caused greater than $230 million in damage in today’s currency and at least 90 deaths, most of which occurred in Honduras due to flooding.
While June marks the official start of hurricane season, it is rare for a hurricane, let alone a named storm, to make landfall in the U.S. Roughly half of all Junes on record had no named storms.
Source: NOAA Hurricane Research Division, weather.gov
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Story Image: Satellite imagery of Hurricane Alma in the Gulf of Mexico in June 1966 (Wikimedia Commons/NOAA).
Hurricane season begins June 1, and the 1966 season took no time to get going. On June 4, 1966, the first tropical depression of the season formed near Nicaragua. Moving north into the western Caribbean Sea, Alma formed and rapidly strengthened as it took advantage of the already warm waters.
Alma would become a hurricane as it made landfall in western Cuba. Despite the land interaction, which typically weakens tropical systems, Hurricane Alma actually gained strength.
Barreling toward the U.S., Alma became a major hurricane near Key West, Fla., packing winds of 125 mph, a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The storm then tracked parallel to the western coast of Florida, slowly weakening, but remaining a hurricane. Hurricane Alma would then make landfall on the Florida Panhandle near Apalachee Bay, Fla., with sustained winds of 90 mph, making it a strong Category 1 hurricane.
Making landfall in the contingent U.S., Alma was the earliest hurricane to do so since 1825, when a strong tropical system believed to reach hurricane-strength struck the eastern U.S. Records from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began in 1850, so it is difficult to verify storms occurring prior as modern observation methods weren’t yet available.
Hurricane Alma caused greater than $230 million in damage in today’s currency and at least 90 deaths, most of which occurred in Honduras due to flooding.
While June marks the official start of hurricane season, it is rare for a hurricane, let alone a named storm, to make landfall in the U.S. Roughly half of all Junes on record had no named storms.
Source: NOAA Hurricane Research Division, weather.gov
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Story Image: Satellite imagery of Hurricane Alma in the Gulf of Mexico in June 1966 (Wikimedia Commons/NOAA).