Subtropical Storm Alpha (also called Alfa) was an

off-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

subtropical cyclone A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical cyclone, tropical and extratropical cyclones. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as Tropical cyclone ...

that impacted

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in May 1972. It developed from a previously non-tropical cyclone in the western Atlantic Ocean, and initially it moved northeastward off the Carolinas. The storm turned southwestward due to a building ridge, and concurrently it intensified to become Subtropical Storm Alpha. It later moved ashore near

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, and it finally dissipated in the northeast Gulf of Mexico on May 29. It produced wave action and moderate rainfall along the coast. Damage totaled over $100,000 (1972

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

), and there were two associated deaths.

Meteorological history

Throughout May 1972, a series of weak troughs moved across the eastern United States. In the third week of the month, an upper-level cutoff low developed along one of these troughs, located southeast of the United States and removed from the

Westerlies The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes (about ...

. The origins of Alpha were from a surface low northeast of Florida, associated with the larger-scale, cold core upper low. It organized, and late on May 23 it could be classified as a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

depression, east of the

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

border. While southeast of

Hatteras, North Carolina Hatteras is an unincorporated village and census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. ...

, a developing ridge blocked its northeast motion, and so it slowed to turn to the southeast. On May 25, a small, intense low-level center organized rapidly, and by the next day, it attained gale-force winds, by which time the storm turned southwestward. At 1600 UTC on May 26, the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

initiated advisories on Subtropical Cyclone Alpha, when the storm was about to the south of

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach ...

. Around that time, it reached its peak winds of . On its first advisory, there was disagreement among forecast models regarding its eventual track, with projected tracks deviating from a Georgia landfall to a track northeastward out to sea. Alpha was also a climatological outlier at the time; the NHC HURRAN model, which was based on previous storms with similar characteristics, found no analogs for the storm. Subtropical Storm Alpha was initially well-defined as it moved southwestward. The very small center was located along the eastern edge of the convection, while low-level cloud bands formed east of the center. At the time, the temperature structure was more typical of a winter storm, although it was expected to become more like a subtropical storm typical during the summer months. The winds decreased steadily as it turned more westward on May 27, and the heavy rainfall persisted mostly to the north and west of the center. The National Hurricane Center initially thought the center might not have been at the surface, and the agency indicated low forecasting confidence, as they could not determine a circulation center. The difficulty arose from the large, sprawling nature of the storm, and by later on May 27 a new center formed, as confirmed by radar imagery and the

Hurricane Hunters Hurricane hunters, typhoon hunters, or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In the United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather ...

. That night, the extremely small center made landfall just south of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, affecting a very small area with winds of and a minimum pressure of . Around the time of landfall, Alpha developed a warm core, indicating some tropical characteristics. The storm weakened quickly over land, although it did not dissipate until two days later over the northeast Gulf of Mexico.

Preparations and impact

At the time of the first advisory on Alpha, there were

small craft warnings ''Small Craft Warnings'' is a two-act play by Tennessee Williams, written in late 1971 and early 1972. Williams expanded his two-scene play ''Confessional'' (1970), which had been published in his 1970 compilation ''Dragon Country'', into this ...

from

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May (sometimes Cape May City) is a City (New Jersey), city and seaside resort located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Gale warnings were posted from

Cape Fear, North Carolina Cape Fear is a prominent headland jutting into the Atlantic Ocean from Bald Head Island on the coast of North Carolina in the southeastern United States. It is largely formed of barrier beaches and the silty outwash of the Cape Fear River as i ...

Chincoteague, Virginia Chincoteague ( or ) is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The town includes the whole of Chincoteague Island and an area of adjacent water. The population was 3,344 at the 2020 census. The town is a tourist gateway to the Ch ...

. The interaction between Alpha and the high pressure system to its northeast caused cooler temperatures and gusty winds from Delaware southward. Wave heights reached up to along the Virginia capes. The storm dropped rainfall along the coast of North Carolina and Virginia, with a maximum of reported in

Ocracoke, North Carolina Ocracoke ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the

. While moving slowly off the North Carolina coast, Alpha caused heavy

beach erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward r ...

, destroyed one house, and threatened the foundation of several other homes in the Outer Banks. Damage totaled over $50,000 (1972 USD). While the storm was traveling over the western Atlantic Ocean, the storm produced a large area of rough seas, which was considered the greatest threat from the storm. In northeastern Florida, police officers were stationed to ensure people did not swim in the dangerous seas. The high waves also halted work to deepen a harbor at the

Mayport Naval Station Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base on San Pablo Island in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a mi ...

. Two people drowned after the storm dissipated, when surf was still turbulent. Tides along the Georgia coast reached above normal, which caused some flooding and beach erosion. Wind gusts reached on Saint Simons Island. The winds knocked down trees and power lines, leaving some people without power in eastern Georgia. Damage was minor but widespread in the state, estimated at over $50,000 (1972 USD). Moderate rains spread in coastal areas from South Carolina through southern Florida.

Naming

The 1972 hurricane season was the first year in which quasi-tropical cyclones were named, by using the

NATO phonetic alphabet The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman ...

. At the time, the names were applied to large

s and small neutercanes, both of which were later combined into one category. After the 1973 season, however, this practice was dropped. The name "Alpha" (as part of the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as wel ...

) was later reused in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, but it was used in these cases to name storms after the standard list of names was exhausted.

References

External links

National Hurricane CenterMonthly Weather Review for 1972
{{Good article 1972 Atlantic hurricane season

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

Meteorological history

Preparations and impact

Naming

See also

References

External links