The 1990 season

Hurricane Alma (1990)

Hurricane Alma reached Category 1 in the Eastern Pacific between May 12, 1990 and May 18, 1990, with a lowest pressure of 979 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Alma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1990 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
May 12, 1990 to May 18, 1990
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
979 mb (28.91 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 765 km (475 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.6
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
EP011990

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
May 12, 18:009.3N 101.1W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
May 13, 00:0010.0N 102.5W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
May 13, 06:0010.4N 103.4W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
May 13, 12:0010.9N 104.0W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
May 13, 18:0011.3N 104.5W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
May 14, 00:0011.7N 105.5W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
May 14, 06:0011.9N 106.9W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 14, 12:0012.0N 108.5W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
May 14, 18:0012.1N 110.0W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 15, 00:0012.1N 111.3W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
May 15, 06:0012.1N 112.4W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 15, 12:0012.2N 113.6W65 kt987 mbHurricane
May 15, 18:0012.5N 114.8W65 kt987 mbHurricane
May 16, 00:0012.9N 116.0W70 kt983 mbHurricane
May 16, 06:0013.4N 117.1W75 kt979 mbHurricane
May 16, 12:0013.9N 118.1W70 kt983 mbHurricane
May 16, 18:0014.1N 118.9W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 17, 00:0014.1N 119.9W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
May 17, 06:0014.1N 121.1W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 17, 12:0014.2N 122.5W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
May 17, 18:0014.4N 123.4W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
May 18, 00:0014.2N 124.6W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
May 18, 06:0014.0N 125.9W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
May 18, 12:0014.0N 127.3W20 kt1009 mbTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1990

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.