Record Breaker: Hurricane Season 2008 by the Numbers

Hurricane season 2008, which began on June 1, will officially come to a close on Sunday, November 30.

The verdict: Long and devastating -- a "top ten" season in terms of the total number of named storms and hurricanes. Hurricane expert and blogger Jeff Masters:

After two years of relative tranquility, the active hurricane period that began in 1995 returned in full force this year, living up to pre-season predictions.

There were a total of 16 named storms in 2008, the sixth most on record, going back to 1851. They included eight hurricanes -- five of which were Category 3 strength or higher. (An average season has about nine named storms.)

When using a "better" measure of total seasonal activity -- known as the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) -- the season was the 24th most active on record, explains Masters. (An average ACE index falls in the range of 95 to 100. This year's ACE index was 141, which put the 2008 season at about 45 percent more active than average.)

A number of records were broken. Masters compiles the data in his excellent post. The whole thing is worth a read, but here are the "notable records for 2008:"

Fourth costliest hurricane season on record ($21 billion dollars in U.S. damage, according to ISO's Property Claim Services)

First time major hurricanes have been observed in 5 separate months (Bertha, Gustav, Ike, Omar, Paloma occurred in July, August, September, October, and November, respectively)

First time 6 consecutive storms made U.S. landfall (Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike).

First time 3 major hurricanes have hit Cuba (Gustav, Ike, Paloma)

Costliest hurricane in Texas history (Ike, $16.2 billion)

Second deadliest U.S. hurricane since 1972, and 26th deadliest in history (Ike, with 82 dead)

Highest wind gust ever measured in a hurricane over land (Gustav, 212 mph in Pinar del Rio, Cuba)

First storm ever to make 4 landfalls in one state (Fay, in Florida)

Second strongest November hurricane (Paloma, 145 mph winds)

Smallest tropical cyclone on record (Marco)

Longest-lived July hurricane on record, longest-lived hurricane so early in the season, longest-lived tropical storm in July and so early in the season (Bertha, which was a hurricane 7.75 days, eclipsing the previous record of 7 days held by Hurricane Emily of 2005. Bertha was at tropical storm strength for 17.25 days)

Farthest east forming tropical storm and hurricane for so early in the season (Bertha)

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has posted its own rundown of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season:

"This year’s hurricane season continues the current active hurricane era and is the tenth season to produce above-normal activity in the past 14 years," said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

Why the "above normal activity?"

Bell attributes this year’s above-normal season to conditions that include:

• An ongoing multi-decadal signal. This combination of ocean and atmospheric conditions has spawned increased hurricane activity since 1995.
• Lingering La Niña effects. Although the La Niña that began in the Fall of 2007 ended in June, its influence of light wind shear lingered.
• Warmer tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures. On average, the tropical Atlantic was about 1.0 degree Fahrenheit above normal during the peak of the season.

Clearly, this season's dramatic up-tick in hurricane activity isn't a one-year phenomenon. Scientists continue to affirm a hurricane upsurge over the past few decades. Question is: what's the link with human-induced global warming?

The UN IPCC's conservative 2007 Fourth Assessment concluded that it is "more likely than not" (>50% chance) that there is a human contribution to the trend of hurricane intensification since the 1970s. Meanwhile, a September 2008 article in the journal Nature looks into the future:

As this year's Atlantic hurricane season becomes ever more violent, scientists have come up with the firmest evidence so far that global warming will significantly increase the intensity of the most extreme storms worldwide.

Still: scientific debate remains unresolved. In the meantime, the fiercest hurricanes are getting even stronger and more destructive -- and the 2009 season is not far away.

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