2008 Hurricane Season in Review

Hurricane season is officially over. Sunday marked the final day of the 2008 season. Back in May, the climate prediction center forecasted above normal conditions for 2008, including 12 to 16 named storms and between 6 and 9 hurricanes. Looking back at the 2008 season, that forecast proved to be pretty accurate.

2008 proved to be a devastating hurricane season, causing approximately 400 deaths. Some of worst destruction occurred in Haiti, where at least 250 people died as a result of hurricanes Gustav and Hanna which later impacted the U.S. The 2008 season was above climatological normal, with 16 named storms. 8 of these storms were hurricanes, with winds greater than 74 miles per hour. And 5 of those 8 were major hurricanes, at category 3 intensity or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The Carolinas were lucky in 2008, only seeing effects of Tropical Storm Cristobal in July and a weakened Tropical Storm Hanna in early September. On July 19, Cristobal became a tropical storm off the Carolina coast. Tropical storm warnings were issued for North and South Carolina, as Cristobal traveled northeast parallel to the coastline. Major effects from Cristobal included rough surf and minor beach erosion.

In the beginning of September, the Carolinas were visited by Tropical Storm Hanna, which caused at least 175 deaths in Haiti. U.S. landfall occurred early September 6th with winds of 70 mph near Little River. The fast-moving storm left the Eastern Carolinas with minor flooding and rainfall totals in most locations of 4-8 inches.

Hanna was one of 6 consecutive named storms to impact the U.S., a new record set in 2008. These included Fay, which brought up to two feet of rain to florida causing major flooding, and Ike, which made landfall near Galveston, Texas as a category two storm.

While the Grand Strand was spared from the brunt of the damage for 2008, preparations along the coast were not in vain as the 2009 hurricane season begins on June 1st.

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