The 1970 season

Hurricane Alma (1970)

Hurricane Alma reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between May 17, 1970 and May 27, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 993 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Alma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1970 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
May 17, 1970 to May 27, 1970
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
993 mb (29.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.4
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
AL011970

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 825 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 6.66 inches (169 mm).

StationTotalPosition
MIAMI 12 SSW6.66 in (169 mm)25.65N 80.30W
FT PIERCE6.03 in (153 mm)27.43N 80.33W
FT LAUDERDALE5.53 in (140 mm)26.10N 80.15W
KENDALL 2 E5.00 in (127 mm)25.68N 80.28W
TAVERNIER4.85 in (123 mm)25.02N 80.52W
PUNTA GORDA 4 ESE4.81 in (122 mm)26.97N 81.97W
ALAPAHA EXP STN4.62 in (117 mm)31.35N 83.22W
BLACKBEARD ISLAND4.59 in (117 mm)31.48N 81.22W
DANIA 4 WNW4.50 in (114 mm)26.07N 80.20W
MIAMI INTL AP4.50 in (114 mm)25.82N 80.28W
LOXAHATCHEE4.47 in (114 mm)26.68N 80.27W
HILTON HEAD4.42 in (112 mm)32.22N 80.75W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
May 17, 18:0011.5N 79.0W25 ktTropical depression
May 18, 00:0011.8N 79.3W25 ktTropical depression
May 18, 06:0012.1N 79.7W25 ktTropical depression
May 18, 12:0012.3N 80.1W25 ktTropical depression
May 18, 18:0012.6N 80.5W25 ktTropical depression
May 19, 00:0013.0N 81.0W25 ktTropical depression
May 19, 06:0013.5N 81.5W25 ktTropical depression
May 19, 12:0014.0N 81.9W25 kt1005 mbTropical depression
May 19, 18:0014.7N 82.1W30 ktTropical depression
May 20, 00:0015.5N 82.2W35 ktTropical storm
May 20, 06:0016.3N 82.0W45 ktTropical storm
May 20, 12:0016.9N 81.7W55 ktTropical storm
May 20, 18:0017.4N 81.4W65 kt993 mbHurricane
May 21, 00:0017.8N 81.0W60 ktTropical storm
May 21, 06:0018.2N 80.6W50 ktTropical storm
May 21, 12:0018.5N 80.2W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
May 21, 18:0019.0N 80.0W45 kt1003 mbTropical storm
May 22, 00:0019.5N 80.1W45 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 22, 06:0019.3N 80.6W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
May 22, 12:0019.1N 81.1W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
May 22, 18:0019.0N 81.8W30 ktTropical depression
May 23, 00:0019.2N 82.6W30 ktTropical depression
May 23, 06:0019.8N 83.5W25 ktTropical depression
May 23, 12:0020.8N 84.1W25 ktTropical depression
May 23, 18:0021.8N 84.4W25 ktTropical depression
May 24, 00:0022.9N 84.5W25 ktTropical depression
May 24, 06:0023.9N 84.3W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
May 24, 12:0024.9N 84.1W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
May 24, 18:0026.3N 83.9W30 ktTropical depression
May 25, 00:0028.0N 83.4W30 ktTropical depression
May 25, 06:0029.5N 82.9W30 ktTropical depression
May 25, 12:0030.8N 82.2W30 ktTropical depression
May 25, 18:0031.8N 81.6W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
May 26, 00:0032.6N 81.2W40 ktTropical storm
May 26, 06:0033.5N 80.7W40 ktTropical storm
May 26, 12:0034.6N 79.9W40 ktTropical storm
May 26, 18:0035.7N 78.7W35 ktTropical storm
May 27, 00:0036.5N 77.0W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1970

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.