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Tropical Storm Alma
By ccrossen | July 7, 2008
As fate would have it, while we were surfing in Nicaragua, a tropical storm hit. Usually, May/June is a safe time to go to the Pacific Coast of Central America for surf… no big storms yet, and good south swell. We had been in Nicaragua for a few days when the weather changed, and it started to blow and rain hard. Really hard. We were fairly isolated, in a remote area without any real news sources, though our cell phones did manage to work. The woman who did our house cleaning had a storm, but she simply told us that there was a tormenta, and that’s all would could clean from her. After a number of text messages to friends and family back in the states, we figured out we were in-line to get hit, if we hadn’t been hit already. Fortunately, the center of the storm hit north of us, and we escaped with some minor flooding, downed tress, and blown-out surf for a couple of days; all-in-all, very minor, though the impact of the weather and the storm affected the rest of our trip, as Costa Rica experienced torrential flooding and major landslides. The San Jose airport also closed down for awhile.
Some highlights:
Tropical Storm Alma was the easternmost forming tropical cyclone on record. It formed within the monsoon trough just off the coast of Costa Rica May 29. Initially forecast to remain a weak tropical storm, the cyclone rapidly strengthened and developed an eye before making landfall near León, Nicaragua with peak winds of 65 mph (100 km/h). Alma was the first tropical storm on record to strike Pacific coast of Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides, leaving at least 42,000 people without power and shutting down numerous major roads around the country. Alma was the first tropical storm to make landfall along Central America since the 1949 Pacific Hurricane Season.
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