The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was above average with 16 named storms, 8 hurricanes, 5 Major hurricanes. [1]
Date 31 of May to June 1
Max winds 40 knots
Min central Pressure 1004 millibars
Arthur formed mid day on the 31st of May from the Remants of Alma that had made landfall a few days earlier in the Eastern Pacific, the remant LLC of Alma moved into the western Caribbean late on the 30th of May. This LLC with a tropical wave helped form a LLC off the coast of the Yucatán early on the 31st that slowly moved westward. The nhc upgraded the system once it was nearly on land, but later discovered what many 'hurricane watchers thought' when they made their report showing it had been a tropical storm over the western Caribbean for at least a few hours. [2]
Bretha
Bertha formed from a tropical wave off of Africa durning the early part of July; it was one of the farthest east storms in Atantic hurricane history for so early in the season. It was also one of the farthest east of any storm to reach hurricane and Major hurricane strengths. Also to top it all out it was the longest July tropical cyclone ever [3]
Tropical storm Christobal
Hurricane Dolly 20–25 July
Winds 85 knots, min central pressure 963 millibars,
Dolly formed from a tropical wave on the 20th of July around 270 n mi east of Chetumal, Mexico, and than moved west to west-northwest throughout the next couple of days through the northwestern caribbean. For some unknown reasons(nhc report) it became disorganized early on the 21st of July as a LLC could not be closed off, it reformed a LLC, and crossed the northern half of the Yucatán or just north of it during the night of the 21st, and morning of the 22nd. The upper level Anticyclone that was badly shearing it had weaken and moved away by that time; which was holding the cyclone back from strengthing over the last few days over the BOC/southern gulf of Mexico late on the 22nd and it quickly became a hurricane on the 23rd. Later that day a shortwave trough over the great lakes was digging down and created a weakness within the subtropical area of high pressure that was holding the cyclone on a west to west-northwest track for the last few days, because of this the cyclone turned northwest on the evening of the 23rd. The hurricane reached its peak at 1400z just offshore of Brownsville Texas.
[4]
A pic of Dolly at her peak [5]
![[5]](http://vortex.plymouth.edu/hur_dir/2008/atl_04_dolly08c.gif){kind=link}
26 August to 2nd of Sept
max winds 130 knots.
Hurricane Gustav formed as a depression on the 25th of August, and it rapidly strengthen into a hurrricane by late on the 26th the next day....The storm moved onto the strip of land over southwestern Hati. Afterwards the storm weaken to a troical storm moving over mountains on the 27th of August. The storm made landfall on Southwestern Hati at near 80 knots. The storm unexpectly moved southwestward south of the NHC forecast track(it was expected to move over Cuba or even to the north earlier forecast by the nhc). Once it moved back over water after about a day over Jamaica, it become a hurricane at 12z the 29th, and 110 knots by 12z 30th the hurricane kepted strengthing with a very favorable upper level upper level wind shear and high "TCHP", 82-85f waters; some of the warmest waters of the whole Atlatnic basin. The hurricane peaked as it was moving onto the coast of the Isle of Youth, and Central Cuba around 22z on the 30th near 130 knots. Strong upper level shear, with the fact that it had moved over Cuba for a good 10 hours before moving into the gulf had weaken the system with the innercore becoming less organized. As this storm moved out into the Gulf of Mexico, the storm had to deal with strong southly shear, dry air at the mid levels that work together to cap any restrengthing up until the final landfall over central LA. 15z on the 1st of September it made landfall with 90 knot winds [6]
112 deaths with 77 of those over hait. The cyclone caused over 4.4 billion in damage.
Ike