First system formed | May 31, 2008 |
Last system dissipated | November 10, 2008 |
Strongest storm | Ike - 935 mbar, 145 mph (1-minute sustained) |
Total depressions | 17 |
Total storms | 16 |
Hurricanes | 8 |
Major hurricanes | 5 |
ACE index | 146 |
Total fatalities | ≥858 Direct, 188 Indirect |
Total damage | $47.53 Billion (2008 USD) |
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was an active hurricane season with seventeen depressions, sixteen of them becoming tropical storms, eight of those storms becoming hurricanes, and five of those storms becoming major hurricanes (Category 3+). The season officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30. However, the formation of Tropical Storm Arthur caused the season to start one day early. This season was very costly. In fact, this season is the fourth costliest on record, with over $47.5 billion in damage (2008 USD).
Timeline[]
Storms[]
Tropical Storm Arthur[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | May 31 – June 1 | ||
Peak intensity | 45 mph (75 km/h) (1-min) 1004 mbar (hPa) |
Arthur was a short-lived tropical cyclone that made landfall in northeastern Belize as a tropical storm. The storm produced devastating floods and killed five people in Belize, causing an estimated 78 million dollars worth of damage in that country[1]
Hurricane Bertha[]
Category 3 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | July 3 – July 20 | ||
Peak intensity | 125 mph (205 km/h) (1-min) 952 mbar (hPa) |
Bertha was an early season category 3 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) that brought tropical storm conditions to Bermuda and became the longest-lived Atlantic July tropical cyclone on record.[2]
Tropical Storm Cristobal[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | July 19 – July 23 | ||
Peak intensity | 65 mph (100 km/h) (1-min) 998 mbar (hPa) |
Hurricane Dolly[]
Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | July 20 – July 25 | ||
Peak intensity | 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min) 963 mbar (hPa) |
Dolly made landfall in extreme southern Texas as a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and caused some significant wind and flood damage.[3]
Tropical Storm Edouard[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | August 3 – August 6 | ||
Peak intensity | 65 mph (100 km/h) (1-min) 996 mbar (hPa) |
Edouard was a short-lived tropical storm that made landfall along the upper Texas coast.[4]
Tropical Storm Fay[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | August 15 – August 26 | ||
Peak intensity | 70 mph (110 km/h) (1-min) 986 mbar (hPa) |
Fay was a long-lived tropical storm that made eight landfalls – including a record four landfalls in Florida – and produced torrential rainfall that caused extensive floods across the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and Florida.[5]
Hurricane Gustav[]
Category 4 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | August 25 – September 4 | ||
Peak intensity | 155 mph (250 km/h) (1-min) 941 mbar (hPa) |
Gustav moved erratically through the Greater Antilles into the Gulf of Mexico, eventually making landfall on the coast of Louisiana. It briefly became a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and caused many deaths and considerable damage in Haiti, Cuba, and Louisiana.[6]
Hurricane Hanna[]
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | August 28 – September 7 | ||
Peak intensity | 85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min) 977 mbar (hPa) |
Hanna was a tropical cyclone that was briefly a hurricane over the Caicos Islands. Hanna also made landfall in the United States as a strong tropical storm near the border between North and South Carolina. Impacts from Hanna were greatest in Haiti, where heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding resulted in a large loss of life.[7]
Hurricane Ike[]
- Main article: Hurricane Ike
Category 4 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | September 1 – September 14 | ||
Peak intensity | 145 mph (230 km/h) (1-min) 935 mbar (hPa) |
Ike was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused extensive damage and many deaths across portions of the Caribbean and along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. It reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) over the open waters of the central Atlantic, directly impacting the Turks and Caicos Islands and Great Inagua Island in the southeastern Bahamas before affecting much of the island of Cuba. Ike, with its associated storm surge, then caused extensive damage across parts of the northwestern Gulf Coast when it made landfall along the upper Texas coast at the upper end of Category 2 intensity.[8]
Tropical Storm Josephine[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | September 2 – September 6 | ||
Peak intensity | 65 mph (100 km/h) (1-min) 994 mbar (hPa) |
Josephine formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean and dissipated just a few days later over open waters due to strong vertical wind shear.[9]
Hurricane Kyle[]
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | September 25 – September 29 | ||
Peak intensity | 85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min) 984 mbar (hPa) |
Kyle was a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale that made landfall in southwestern Nova Scotia.[10]
Tropical Storm Laura[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | September 29 – October 1 | ||
Peak intensity | 60 mph (95 km/h) (1-min) 994 mbar (hPa) |
Short-lived Laura remained well out at sea over the North Atlantic.[11]
Tropical Storm Marco[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | October 6 – October 7 | ||
Peak intensity | 65 mph (100 km/h) (1-min) 998 mbar (hPa) |
Marco was an extremely small tropical cyclone that made landfall on the Gulf coast of Mexico between Tuxpan and Veracruz.[12]
Tropical Storm Nana[]
Tropical storm (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | October 12 – October 14 | ||
Peak intensity | 40 mph (65 km/h) (1-min) 1004 mbar (hPa) |
Nana was a short-lived, weak tropical storm that remained over the open tropical Atlantic Ocean throughout its lifetime and threatened no land areas.[13]
Hurricane Omar[]
Category 4 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | October 13 – October 18 | ||
Peak intensity | 130 mph (215 km/h) (1-min) 958 mbar (hPa) |
Omar, which directly impacted the Leeward Islands, underwent rapid intensification (up to a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) and an immediately subsequent rapid weakening.[14]
Tropical Depression Sixteen[]
Tropical depression (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | October 14 – October 15 | ||
Peak intensity | 30 mph (45 km/h) (1-min) 1004 mbar (hPa) |
Tropical Depression Sixteen was a large and sprawling depression that formed over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and made landfall about 24 h later in northeastern Honduras.[15]
Hurricane Paloma[]
Category 4 hurricane (SSHWS) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Duration | November 5 – November 9 | ||
Peak intensity | 145 mph (230 km/h) (1-min) 944 mbar (hPa) |
Hurricane Paloma was a powerful hurricane that formed in the western Caribbean Sea and impacted the Cayman Islands before making landfall in Cuba and rapidly weakening. Paloma reached category 4 intensity (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) and became the second-strongest November Atlantic hurricane on record.[16]
Storm names[]
|
|
|
Retirement[]
On April 22, 2009, at the 31st Session of the World Meteorological Organization's Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee, the WMO retired the names Gustav, Ike, and Paloma from its rotating name lists. The names were replaced with Gonzalo, Isaias, and Paulette for the 2014 season.
References[]
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL012008_Arthur.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL022008_Bertha.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL042008_Dolly.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL052008_Edouard.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL062008_Fay.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL072008_Gustav.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL082008_Hanna.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092008_Ike.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL102008_Josephine.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL112008_Kyle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL122008_Laura.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL132008_Marco.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL142008_Nana.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL152008_Omar.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL162008_Sixteen.pdf
- ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL172008_Paloma.pdf