Tropical Storm Alberto was the first tropical storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Forming on June 10 in the northwestern Caribbean, the storm moved generally to the north, reaching a maximum intensity of before weakening and moving ashore in the Big Bend area of Florida on June 13. Alberto then moved through eastern Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia as a tropical depression before becoming extratropical on June 14. Across the Western Caribbean, the storm produced heavy rainfall, causing some minor damage. In Florida, a moderate storm tide caused coastal damage and flooding, while Alberto's outer rainbands produced several tornadoes. The storm was indirectly responsible for two drownings off the coast of Tampa Bay. In North Carolina, heavy rainfall caused locally severe flooding, and one child drowned in a flooded storm drain near Raleigh. The remnants of Alberto produced strong winds and left four people missing in Atlantic Canada. Overall, damage was minor along Alberto's path. Meteorological history In early June 2006, an area of convection persisted across Central America and the western Caribbean in association with a broad, nearly stationary trough of low pressure. Thunderstorms increased and became more concentrated on June 8 after a tropical wave moved into the western Caribbean, and an upper-level low to its west increased outflow over the system. The disturbance moved slowly north-northwestward, and development was initially inhibited by marginally favorable upper-level winds and land interaction. The system gradually organized, and by June 10 a circulation formed with sufficiently organized convection for the National Hurricane Center to classify it Tropical Depression One. At this point the storm was located about south of the western tip of Cuba. The depression tracked to the northwest through the Yucatán Channel into an area of increased wind shear, which left the center exposed and elongated. Despite its poor structure, the system maintained strong winds in its eastern semicircle. The depression intensified into Tropical Storm Alberto early on June 11 about southwest of the Dry Tortugas, based on Hurricane Hunters' reports of flight level winds of in a few convective bands. Upon becoming a tropical storm, the low-level circulation had become better defined, though forecasts predicted the wind shear would increase, preventing significant strengthening of the storm. One forecaster at the National Hurricane Center remarked the system resembled a subtropical cyclone. However, deep convection developed and built westward against the wind shear as the overall organization improved. At