On June 9, 1966, Alma swept ashore Tallahassee, Fla., to become the earliestlandfalling hurricane to strike the contiguous United States since 1825.Landfall took place as Alma wielded Category 1 hurricane status five days afterits birth as a tropical depression over eastern Nicaragua.
Alma later swept over western Cuba before becoming a major hurricane ofCategory 3 status off the Florida Keys on June 8.
As Alma spun northward towards its ultimate landfall upon the FloridaPanhandle, Alma skirted western Florida, where it cause some agriculturaldamage.
Alma also poured about 10 inches of rain at Dania, Fla.
A sweep back out to sea off Georgia on the 11th allowed Alma to sustain itslife as a tropical storm, even briefly a hurricane, skirting the EasternSeaboard until its break-up near Cape Cod, Mass., on June 13.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews.
