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Hurrican Season 2008 has retired as of last Sunday evening. What more active than WeatherBug had predicted for the season, turned out different. Although it was very active mid-season, it came to a quiet close.

Hurricane season over for 2008

Tropical Storm Faye was a hurricane temporarily while over the ocean, yet once she came ashore she lost her strength. Never the less she did billions of dollars worth of damage due to the flooding from her loitering over the east coast of Florida.

The numbers for Hurricane season 2008

Hurricane season 2008 devasted the Texas Gulf Coast in mid-September when the Powerful Hurricane Ike made landfall. After 2007 hurrican season, 2008 produced two more in total number of 16 for this year. Five of the eight hurricanes that formed for 2008 hurricane season reached “major” status with winds in excess of 111 mph or more.

Gustav during hurricane season 2008

The middle of Hurricane Season 2008 brought the season`s most destructive storms this year. The season`s most powerful storm, Ike, slammed into Galveston Island in the early morning of September 13. Hurricane Ike formed from a tropical disturbance that moved off of Africa on Labor Day weekend. This did weaken the storm as it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a 100 mph (Category 2) hurricane. Ike strengthened as it moved northwestward toward the Texas coast, and storm surges of 15 feet or more were forecast. These forecasts proved true as Ike slammed ashore in Galveston, Texas, with winds of 110 mph and waves that topped the 17-foot seawall.

Space Shuttle sees it from a different angle

Hurricane Season 2008 had everyone thinking of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 that struck New Orleans. Hurricane Gustav was on the same path to strike New Orleans as a Category 4 strength on Labor Day weekend. After a massive evacuation, Gustav veered to the west and making landfall at Cocodrie, La. Gustav produced $18 billion in damage, killing 43 people in the U.S. and 138 people overall.

Car with improper air conditioning added

Hurricane Season 2008 surprises everyone as Tropical Storm Faye slowly snaked back and forth across Florida on August 24 and 25, dropping up to 25 inches of rain near Melbourne, Fla., and more than a foot of rain across large swaths of central and northern Florida. Many believe there would of been less damage from a direct hit from a Category 3 Hurricane, than have Faye flood the Space Coast. Hurricane Hanna formed in the western Atlantic during Hurricane Season 2008 and moved south toward Haiti, stalling out near the island nation. The hurricane brought more than 30 inches of rain to Goncaives, Haiti, killing more than 500 people and causing “catastrophic” damage. The storm then turned toward the U.S. East Coast, moving through the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast, bringing the region 3 to 6 inches of rain

Tornatoes are in the NE section of storm cells

The end of Hurricane Season 2008 also brought intense hurricanes with tornatoes. Hurricane Omar reached winds of 140 mph as it hit the Virgin Islands, had formed in the Caribbean Sea in early October. In early November, Hurricane Paloma moved from along the coast of Central America and smashed through the Cayman Islands with winds of 145 mph. Once it made landfall on Cuba, she fell apart over the island.

The 2008 hurricane season produced more than an average number of tornatoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes. On average, 11 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes. Hurricane Season 2008 total was more active than WeatherBug had predicted for the season. The forecast had called for 10 to 12 named storms, with four to six reaching hurricane strength and two to four major hurricanes.