Tropical Storm Alma was the first named storm of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season. Alma had its origins within a trough that had draped itself across the Gulf of Tehuantepec in late May, generating a widespread area of convection across
Tropical Storm Alma was the first named storm of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season. Alma had its origins within a trough that had draped itself across the Gulf of Tehuantepec in late May, generating a widespread area of convection across the southwestern Caribbean and adjacent eastern Pacific. Alma developed on May 29 while located a short distance southwest of Costa Rica. Alma moved north, then northwest and made landfall that same day near Leon, Nicaragua as a 65 mph tropical storm. Alma quickly dissipated after landfall, but not before triggering torrential rainfall and associated floods and mudslides across portions of Central America.
Alma formed the farthest east out of any East Pacific tropical cyclone on record, though it was not the first to impact the Pacific side of Central America; Tropical Storm Andres in the 1997 season also struck the same general area, as did Hurricane Adrian in 2005.
Alma's mid-level remnants combined with a westward-moving tropical wave over the western Caribbean to trigger the genesis of Tropical Storm Arthur in the Atlantic on May 31. Alma was also the first tropical storm in the basin to have its name retired.
Alma killed 11 people, 4 of them directly. It also caused $35,000,000 (2008 USD) in damage.
|Formation||May 29, 2008|
|Dissipation||May 30, 2008|
|Highest winds||65 mph|
|Lowest pressure||994