Hurricane Guide: 2008 Busy Again

Hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Forecasters initially expected a busy season in 2007 but have since lowered it. The 2006 forecast was a flop.

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Saffir-Simpson Scale | Deadliest | Costliest
Vulnerable States | Busiest Months | 2008 Names

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Katrina in 2005

THE 2008 SEASON

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THE 2007 SEASON

THE 2006 SEASON

News from 2006

THE 2005 SEASON

The Season that Wouldn't End

A Year of Concern and Reflection

Katrina: The Worst Storm Ever

More News from 2005

Related Stories

Rating Hurricanes: The Saffir-Simpson Scale

Cat.	Winds (mph)	Damage	Examples
1	74-95	Damage to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, trees, poorly constructed signs	Allison, 1995; Danny, 1997
2	96-110	Breakage of roofs, doors, windows; small trees blown down; flooding 2-4 hrs before hurricane	Bonnie, 1998; Georges, 1998
3	111-130	Mobile homes destroyed; large trees blown down; flooding 3-5 hrs before hurricane	Roxanne, 1995; Fran, 1996
4	131-155	Curtainwall failures in small residences; 10 ft flooding; evacuation as far inland as 6 miles	Luis, Felix, and Opal, 1995
5	155+	Complete roof failure; escape routes cut by 15 ft flooding; evacuation as far inland as 10 miles	Mitch and Gilbert, 1998

Summary by Category:
Hurricanes that Hit U.S. Coast (Texas to Main) from 1900-2004

Category Number					All (1-5)	Major (3-5)
1	2	3	4	5	All (1-5)	Major (3-5)
65	41	50	16	2	174	68

Deadliest Atlantic-basin Hurricanes
(Not updated to include Katrina in 2005)

Rank	Areas Worst Hit	Month/Year	Deaths
1	Martinique; St. Eustatius; Barbados; offshore	Oct 1780	20,000-22,000
2	Galveston, TX	Sep 1900	8,000-12,000
3	Honduras (FIFI)	Sep 1974	3,000-10,000
4	Dominican Republic	Sep 1930	2,000-8,000
5	Haiti; Cuba (FLORA)	Oct 1963	7,186-8,000
6	Pointe-a-Pitre Bay, Guadoloupe	Sep 1776	6,000+
7	Newfoundland Banks	Sep 1775	4,000
8	Puerto Rico; Carolinas	Aug 1899	3,064+
9	Florida; Guadeloupe; Puerto Rico; Turks Islands; Martinique	Sep 1928	3,375-4,075
10	Cuba; Cayman Islands; Jamaica	Nov 1932	2,500+

Costliest U.S. Hurricanes (adjusted for inflation, in year-2000 dollars)
(Not updated to include Katrina in 2005)

Rank	Hurricane	Year	Cat.	Damage
1	Andrew (SE FL, SE LA)	1992	5	34,954,825,000
2	Hugo (SC)	1989	4	9,739,820,675
3	Agnes (FL, NE U.S.)	1972	1	8,602,500,000
4	Betsy (SE FL, SE LA)	1965	3	8,516,866,023
5	Camille (MS, SE LA, VA)	1969	5	6,992,441,549
6	Diane (NE U.S.)	1955	1	5,540,676,187
7	Frederic (AL, MS)	1979	3	4,965,327,332
8	Floyd (Mid Atlantic & NE U.S.)	1999	2	4,666,817,360
9	Unnamed (New England)	1938	3	4,748,580,000
10	Georges (USVI, PR)	1998	3	3,888,000,000

Direct Hits, 1900-2004

Florida	64
Texas	38
North Carolina	29
Louisiana	27
South Carolina	16
Alabama	12
Mississippi	9
New York	9
Connecticut	8
Massachusetts	6
Georgia	5
Maine	5
Rhode Island	5
Virginia	5
New Hampshire	2
Maryland	1
New Jersey	1
Delaware	0

Major Hurricanes (Cat. 3-5)
to Hit U.S. Coast (Texas to Main) from 1900-2004

Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Total
2	3	17	38	8	68

Tropical Storm Names

2008 Names

Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred

Military weather forecasters began giving women's names to significant storms during WWII, then in 1950 the World Meteorological Organization agreed to an alphabetical naming system, using the military's radio code. The first named Atlantic hurricane was Able in 1950.

Officials soon realized the naming convention would cause problems in the history books if more than one powerful Hurricane Able made landfall. So, in 1953 the organization adopted a rotating series of women's names, planning to retire names of significant storms.

Feminists urged the WMO to add men's names, which was done in 1979. The boy-girl-boy-girl naming convention evolved to include French and Spanish names in the Atlantic system, reflecting the languages of the nations affected by Carribean hurricanes.

Twenty-one names are reserved each year (the letters q, u, x, y and z are not used), and the names are recycled every six years, minus those retired. When a name is retired, the World Meteorological Organization chooses a new name to replace it.

Hurricane Guide: 2008 Busy Again

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Hurricane Guide: 2008 Busy Again

Find a Recycling or Re-Use Location:

Related Items from the LiveScience Store

More Stores to Explore

Most Popular

Community

From Our Blogs

Wind Power Gets Wings in Texas

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Marketplace Links