Tropical Storm Alberto (2006)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be updated.
Parts of this article or section have been identified as no longer being up to date.

Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished.

Tropical Storm Alberto (2006)

Tropical storm (SSHS)

Tropical Storm Alberto on June 12, 2006 at 1845 UTC

Formed

June 10, 2006

Dissipated

June 14, 2006

Highest
winds

70 mph (110 km/h) (1-minute sustained)

Lowest pressure

995 mbar (hPa)

Damage

$565,000 (2006 USD)

Fatalities

0 direct, 2 indirect

Areas
affected

Cayman Islands, western Cuba, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, southern Virginia

Part of the
2006 Atlantic hurricane season

This article is about the 2006 tropical storm. For other storms of the same name, see Hurricane Alberto.

Tropical Storm Alberto was the first tropical storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Forming on June 10 in the northwestern Caribbean Sea as a tropical depression, the storm moved northward and then northeastward, reaching a peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h), before making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida on June 13. Alberto then moved through eastern Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia as a tropical depression before becoming extratropical on June 14. Alberto's strength was difficult to forecast as officials at the National Hurricane Center and local weather stations predicted that the storm would not greatly intensify. However, when Alberto's winds rapidly reached 70 mph, storm forecasters thought that the storm might reach minimal hurricane strength, but that did not occur due to increasing upper-level wind shear interacting with the system.

Alberto produced heavy rain across Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia causing moderate flooding in some areas. Alberto caused $565,000 in damage (2006 USD) and two indirect deaths. The first indirect death occurred when a small plane crashed during the storm, killing its occupant. The second death was from drowning. A report of nine people missing was actually a hoax.^[1]

1 Storm history
2 Preparations
3 Impact
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Storm history

Storm path

During the first several days of June, a low pressure area along a sharp surface trough moved slowly through the western Caribbean Sea and gradually became more organized as tropical waves passed through the system. The last of the tropical waves which interacted with the disturbance left the coast of Africa on May 30. By June 8, the low became better organized as an upper level ridge built over the disturbance. By June 10, the cyclone had developed enough organization to be designated the first tropical depression of the season.^[2]

The depression was located in a relatively hostile environment, with enormous dry air in the western Gulf of Mexico and moderate wind shear, which slowed further development. The depression slowly became better organized, and when sustained winds were found to be of tropical storm strength by the morning of June 11, the cyclone was designated Tropical Storm Alberto.^[3]

Southwesterly vertical wind shear caused most of the convection to be displaced to the eastern half of the storm, with little activity on the western half of the circulation, causing the center to be broad and ill-defined. On the morning of June 12, the circulation center jumped downshear farther northeast towards the deep convection, while deep, warm waters in the Loop Current.^[4] allowed Alberto to strengthen, becoming a strong tropical storm with 70 mph (115 km/h) winds. Vertical wind shear persisted, and the system began to weaken as it moved away from the Loop Current.^[5]

Radar image of Tropical Storm Alberto at landfall.

Alberto made landfall in the Big Bend area near Adams Beach, about 50 miles southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, around 12:30 p.m. EDT on June 13.^[6] The system then weakened into a tropical depression early on June 14 while moving over eastern Georgia and southern South Carolina.^[7]

Tropical Storm Alberto over South Carolina.

The system lost tropical characteristics that morning and transitioned into an extratropical low-pressure system as it began to move offshore into the Atlantic. The remnant low began to strengthen as a mid-latitude cyclone to the east of an upper level trough. Its wind speeds reached storm strength, with gusts to hurricane force, as it deepened rapidly offshore New England to the south of the Canadian Maritime provinces, reaching a minimum central pressure of 970 mbar as of the early afternoon on June 15.^[8] The cyclone weakened thereafter, and crossed the northern Atlantic, moving into Great Britain early on June 19 and into the North Sea by afternoon. The low was absorbed by another oceanic storm approaching Great Britain on the morning of June 21.^[9]

[edit] Preparations

The Cuban government evacuated over 27,000 in the western portion of the country due to the threat of flooding.^[10] The National Hurricane Center recommended tropical storm warnings for the Isle of Youth and the Pinar del Rio province early on June 10, but they were not issued by the Cuban government.^[11]

In northwestern Florida, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for about 21,000 citizens in Levy County, Citrus County, and Taylor County.^[12] Schools were closed as well, and converted into shelters.^[13] Florida governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for the state. ^[14]

[edit] Impact

Alberto's Rainfall over the United States

Some notable rainfall amounts:

Grand Cayman - 22.72 inches+ (577 mm)^[11]
Isabel Rubya, Cuba - 16.14 inches (410 mm)^{[citation needed]}
Rio Seco, Cuba - 17.52 inches (445 mm)^[15]
La Palma, Cuba - 14.57 inches (370 mm)^{[citation needed]}
US high: Raleigh, North Carolina NWS office - 7.16 inches (182 mm)
Florida high: Ruskin, Florida - 6.71 inches (170 mm)
Georgia high: Rincon, Georgia - 7.05 inches (179 mm)
South Carolina high: Bluffton, South Carolina - 4.13 inches (105 mm)
North Carolina high: Raleigh, North Carolina - 7.16 inches (182 mm)
Virginia high: Norfolk, Virginia - 3.22 inches (82 mm)^[16]

The heavy rainfall in Cuba damaged 37 homes and destroyed 3 in the city of Havana.^[10]

Alberto dropped moderate amounts of rainfall across Mexico, peaking at 4 inches (100 mm) in 24 hours in Peto, Yucatán. Light rain was also reported throughout Quintana Roo and in eastern Campeche.^[17]

Overall damage on land was fairly minor in Florida. While there were reports of flooding in coastal communities, it was relatively small-scale. Scattered power outages were also reported. The rainfall was beneficial to the area as it has been in drought conditions and was under a high to extreme wildfire risk at the time, which the heavy rain helped alleviate.^[18]

Storm surge flooding from Tropical Storm Alberto at Horseshoe Beach, Florida.

Damage in Florida totaled to $540,000 (2006 USD) [1][2] [3][4]

There was a small plane crash on June 12, 2006, in the Tampa, Florida neighborhood of Davis Islands, directly south of downtown Tampa. The pilot was said to have died when his small plane crashed into a home near Peter O. Knight Airport, which is located on the southern tip of the island. The crash was likely due to the poor weather conditions caused by Alberto.^[19] In addition, nine people were reported missing after a boat was reported to have sunk off Boynton Beach Inlet. Officials later declared this to be a hoax and arrested Robert J. Moran for the phony distress call and could be fined up to $1 million dollars.^[20]^[21]^[1] A 13-year old boy also died after he ran into a flooded area in Raleigh, North Carolina and drowned.^[22]

Flooding in North Carolina from Alberto

There have been sixteen reports of tornadoes related to Alberto: four in Florida, three in both Georgia and North Carolina, and six in South Carolina.^[23]^[24]^[25] A tornado in Morehead City, North Carolina damaged a house that was under construction, totaling to $25,000 (2006 USD). [5]