Storm Lifecycle

A disturbance developed in the deep tropical Atlantic in the fourth week of August. It tracked westward into the Caribbean Sea where it encountered more favorable conditions, and became a tropical depression on the morning of August 25, west of the Windward Islands. It rapidly intensified into Tropical Storm Gustav early that afternoon and into Hurricane Gustav early on August 26. Striking southwest Haiti, it weakened into a tropical storm on the evening of August 27 due to land interaction and slowed down considerably. It re-organized further south into a strong tropical storm once again on August 28 before speeding up and hitting Jamaica. More » Gustav has killed 85 people in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica, while 7 are still missing in Haiti. It then was upgraded to a hurricane again during the late afternoon of August 29. On the morning of August 30, Gustav was upgraded to a major Category 3 hurricane. After intensification slowed for a few hours, another round of rapid intensification occurred and Gustav was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane during a hurricane hunter flight around 1 p.m. EDT (1700 UTC), with 145 mph (230 km/h) winds. Continuing to intensify, it became a 150 mph (240 km/h) storm that afternoon before landfall. Soon after Gustav made landfall in Cuba, firstly on the island of Isla de la Juventud and later on the mainland near Los Palacios in Pinar del Rio Province, causing catastrophic damage, although it is difficult to estimate it. It then emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on August 30, weakening into a category 3 hurricane with 115 mph (185 km/h) winds. However, the hurricane was still large, and early the next day, it made landfall on Louisiana. At 8 a.m. CDT September 1 the storm weakened to category 2 just before landfall. On September 4, Gustav was absorbed by a cold front while over the Ozarks. Gustav is responsible for 138 deaths and up to $20 billion in damage. « Hide

• » Storms Named Gustav in History
• » Similar Storms in History