Storm Lifecycle

Hurricane Ike was the ninth named storm, and fifth hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it started as a tropical disturbance off the coast of Africa near the end of August, then tracked south of Cape Verde and slowly developed. On September 1, it became a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde islands. By the early morning hours of September 4, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, hitting its peak of 145 mph (230 km/h) winds and a pressure of 935 mbar (27.61 inHg). More » That made it the most intense storm so far in the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. At one point the diameter of Ike's tropical storm and hurricane force winds were 450 and 190 miles (720 and 305 km), respectively. Ike has been blamed for 117 deaths, primarily in Haiti, which was already trying to recover after the impact of three prior 2008 systems, Fay, Gustav, and Hanna, and in the United States, with many of the deaths taking place well inland. Damages from Ike are estimated at $27 billion (2008 USD), if the estimates are true, Ike will be the fourth costliest Atlantic hurricane of all time and third costliest U.S. hurricane of all time. « Hide

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