2008 Hurricane Season, One of the Worst on Record, is Over
The 2008 hurricane season—one of the most active, destructive and costly on record—officially ended on Sunday, November 30. The damage caused by Atlantic hurricanes in 2008 totaled $54 billion, according to the National Climatic Data Center, second only to the 2005 season when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pounded the Gulf Coast of the United States, swamped the City of New Orleans, and racked up damages estimated at $128 billion.
These figures are not absolute. Some government studies have suggested that adjusting for inflation, the changing population density in coastal areas, and other factors could result in calculations that would show some early 20th-century hurricane seasons were more costly than 2008. Nevertheless, the high cost of the 2008 hurricane season is likely to create enormous hardships, especially in light of the current economic crisis.
The 2008 hurricane season was the fourth busiest since 1944, and "the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the north Atlantic," the National Climatic Data Center noted.
During the six-month-long 2008 hurricane season (which began June 1), there were 16 named Atlantic storms, including eight hurricanes. Five of those were considered major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). Three hurricanes—Dolly, Gustav and Ike—made landfall in the United States in 2008. None of them were listed as major hurricanes when they hit the U.S. coast.
Photo by Getty Images
Also read:
- What Causes Hurricanes?
- Most Americans Believe Global Warming is Linked to Hurricanes
- How Did Hurricane Gustav Affect the U.S. Economy? -- About.com: US Economy
- How Did Hurricane Ike Affect the U.S. Economy? -- About.com: US Economy
Comments
So what’s your point? 2005 had 28 named storms. Hurricanes depend on water temps, not air temps. They also occur in natural cycles of decadal lengths. We’re coming out of one of the periods with more storms and will soon be in a period with fewer storms.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2634.htm
My point is that there were a lot of hurricanes in 2008 and they caused a lot of damage. We’ve had some pretty rough hurricane seasons over the past few years, including 2005 as you point out, and they have affected a lot of people. Now that the 2008 season has ended, it seemed worth doing a short wrap-up report. That’s all.
As for your other comment, both warm water and warm air contribute to the formation and intensity of hurricanes. See my article, “What Causes Hurricanes?”
You know, I lived through Ike and for the life of me I cannot understand why they said it was a Category 2 when it was 1 mph off of the Category 3 level. Another thing is that the Texas coastline from Louisiana to close to Corpus Christi is absolutely devastated … so I believe that they are wrong about “None of them were listed as major hurricanes when they hit the U.S. coast. “
what is the point when this is not the baddist on e
Check out this review of hurricane studies:
http://www.co2science.org/subject/h/summaries/hurratlancent.php
Apparently we’re just returning to normal after two decades of abnormally low hurricane number and severity. And numbers & severity have little correlation with average air temps.