Hurricane Alberto was a Category 1 hurricane that caused the worst flooding in western Cuba in 32 years. The first tropical storm and hurricane of the 1982 Atlantic hurricane season, Alberto developed from a tropical disturbance on June 2 in the southern Gulf of Mexico. It rapidly organized and attained hurricane status the following day, the earliest date for a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean since Hurricane Alma in May 1970. Shortly after reaching peak winds off 85 mph (140 km/h), Alberto rapidly weakened due to approaching upper-level winds. Initial forecasts predicted the hurricane would continue northeastward into Florida; it turned sharply westward and drifted erratically for several days across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, before dissipating on June 6.