2008 Hurricane Season Wrap-Up

Today, November 30, marks the end of hurricane season. Hurricane Season 2008 will go down as one of the worst hurricane seasons in US history. A total of 16 named storms formed, with 8 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes. The season will be most known for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which devastated portions of the US coastline. However, each storm was known for something unique. In this report, I have compiled data from The National Hurricane Center and The Weather Channel as well as my own information.

The season began early as Tropical Storm Arthur formed on May 31. Arthur affected the Yucatan Peninsula, killing 5 mainly from heavy rainfall.

The rest of June was quiet, but once the calendar hit July, Hurricane Bertha formed. Bertha formed as a tropical depression on July 3rd, and lasted all the way through the 20th. This allowed Bertha to become the longest-lived tropical cyclone ever in the month of July. Bertha only affected Bermuda during her long life. However, Bertha did manage to become a rather strong hurricane for July standards, peaking at an intensity of 120mph.

Tropical Storm Christobalformed during Bertha’s stride through the Atlantic, but did affect the US, unlike Bertha. Christobal skirted the coast of the Carolinas and brought only minor impacts. However, during Christobal’s exit from the east coast, Hurricane Dolly came into the picture. Hurricane Dolly slammed the southern Texas coast on July 23rd as a 100mph Category Two hurricane, near South Padre Island, TX. Up to $1 billion in damage was reported, and one person perished from the storm surge in Florida when the storm was passing that way.

Just a few days after Dolly affected south Texas, Tropical Storm Edouard struck northern Texas the beginning of August. Only minor damage from some flooding was reported. However, a tropical storm that was a big deal was Tropical Storm Faywho drenched the paradoxical “Sunshine State” for 10 days through the middle and end of August. Some locations received over 26 inches of rain and flooding was obviously widespread. Fay was the worst tropical storm to affect The United States since Tropical Storm Allison damaged large areas of Texas in June 2001. However, once Fay was gone, our attention turned to a tropical wave that would eventually become one of the year’s worst storms: Hurricane Gustav.

Hurricane Gustav at its strongest point was a category four hurricane with winds of 150mph. Gustav will be well known for its trails of destruction left in Haiti and Cuba. However, without those land interactions, Gustav may have been a worse storm when it affected the US. However, when Gustav struck the coastline near Cocodrie, Louisiana as a category 2 hurricane on September 1st. Gustav has been blamed for 122 deaths (75 in Haiti alone), and this is just a rough estimate.

Once Gustav was gone, our attention focused to Hurricane Hanna, which will be known for her twists and turns. Hanna was only a tropical storm when she made landfall near the North and South Carolina border. Hanna was another storm that caused terrible flooding in Haiti and the Bahamas. Over 175 deaths in Haiti may be attributed to Hanna. However, while Hanna was making her moves through the Bahamas, the year’s worst hurricane was just getting started.

Hurricane Ike, the year’s worst hurricane, formed on September 1st as a tropical depression. Ike became an extremely dangerous Category four hurricane on September 3rd and, at its peak, had winds of 145mph. Ike was a category four hurricane when it slammed through the Bahamas. Grand Turk Island was the island most directly affected by Ike as the eye went right over the island and about 80% of the island was destroyed. Ike then went on to make a landfall as a category three hurricane in Cuba and emerged a few days later into the Gulf of Mexico where it grew and became a huge hurricane, spanning over 400 miles wide. Hurricane Ike made landfall over north Galveston on September 13 as a strong category 2 hurricane with winds of 110mph. The flooding due to the storm surge typical of a category five was the main aspect of the storm. Ike will go down as one of the most expensive storms in US history, even though the exact amount is still unknown. After such a long streak of storms, the next 3 storms had very little affect on land, figuratively. Tropical Storm Josephine simply wandered around the open Atlantic for a few days then dissipated. Hurricane Kyleformed from a low pressure area that brought more heavy rains to the Caribbean, but wasn’t named until leaving the area. Kyle moved through the Atlantic and struck the Canadian maritimes on September 28. To end the month, Tropical Storm Laura was another storm that just meandered across open waters, as a subtropical storm at first, before transitioning into a tropical storm. Laura solely affected the shipping lanes of the North Atlantic.

October was a relatively quiet month, at least in terms of large storms. Tropical Storm Marco, which will go down as probably the smallest tropical cyclone in the history of the Atlantic Basin, formed on October 6th, and made landfall on the 7th in mainland Mexico between Tampico and Veracruz, Mexico – but it’s small size caused very little damage and no casualties. However, despite its small size, winds did get to near 65mph at one point in this tiny storm’s short life. Tropical Storm Nana was another short-lived storm that did absolutely nothing and fizzled out over the open waters after being a storm for only 2 days and strengthening to only a minimal 40mph tropical storm.

October’s main storm came in the middle of the month as Hurricane Omar formed on October 13th. Omar will be remembered as rapidly intensifying from a 40mph tropical storm to a 125mph category three hurricane in less than 2 days as it passed through the US/British Virgin Islands. While Omar was ongoing, Tropical Depression Sixteen formed and caused a lot of rain over Central America. While it never strengthened into a tropical storm, the depression caused flooding and possibly some deaths, but that number is not yet known.

And finally; November. November would have been a quiet month until Hurricane Paloma came early in the month. Forming on November 5th, Paloma eventually became a monster category four hurricane, maxing out with winds of 145mph, making Paloma the second strongest hurricane in November in terms of winds. Paloma made landfall near Santa Cruz del Sur, Cuba as a category three, 125mph hurricane on November 8th.

Officially the hurricane season has ended. However, out of season tropical cyclones are common, and it is possible that another storm may form. Should the situation arise, I will let you know of any system that may form through the off-season. But unless that happens, the hurricane center of Youngstown WeatherWATCH will return on June 1, 2009 as another hurricane season will begin. Thank you for keeping it here through this hurricane season and we look forward to serving you next year.