A tropical disturbance formed off the coast of Africa near the end of August. It moved south of Cape Verde and slowly strengthened. On September 1, It became Tropical Depression Nine while west of the Cape Verde islands and strengthened into a tropical storm later that day, when it was given the name "Ike". Ike developed an eye late on September 3 as it did explosive intensification, as it strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in twelve hours with an guessed pressure drop of 43 mbars, from 991 to 948 mbar; and a 24-hour pressure drop of 61 mbar, from 996 to 935 mbars. Ike weakened back to a Category 2 hurricane before re-intensifying back to a Category 4. It ripped across Great Inagua Island and Grand Turk Island, where 80% of the buildings on Grand Turk were seriously damaged or completely destroyed. It weakened to a strong Category 3 late in the afternoon of September 7 as it headed for landfall on the northeastern coastline of Cuba that evening. In addition, the storm killed at least 74 people in Haiti and 1 person in the Dominican Republic.
As Ike crossed Cuba on September 8, It weakened to a Category 1 hurricane and emerged into the Caribbean Sea, where it moved along or just off of the southern coast of Cuba. Ike killed 7 people as it effected nearly the whole county of Cuba. It made landfall on Galveston Island on September 13 as a strong category 2 hurricane, Its big size brought storm surge of over 12 feet from Galveston Island eastward into southern Louisiana. The Bolivar Peninsula was worst affected by the surge, while Galveston Island (where waves topped the seawall) and the Port Arthur areas also saw a lot of damage. Power was knocked out to most of the Houston area and windows were blown out of skyscrapers in downtown Houston. As Ike moved inland, it brought moderate flooding and wind damage during the Midwest and as far north as Pennsylvania. It became extratropical on September 14. At least 82 deaths have been blamed on Ike in the U.S., with 44 of them caused directly.
Damage from Ike is guessed at $31.5 billion (2008 USD), the third most damaging hurricane in U.S. history, behind Katrina in 2005 and Andrew in 1992. At least 166 deaths have been blamed on Ike, of which 82 were in the United States. It was the most damaging hurricane in Texas history. Ike was an extremely big and strong storm. At one point, the diameter of Ike's tropical storm and hurricane-force winds were 550 and 240 miles (885 and 390 km) making Ike one of the biggest Atlantic hurricane recorded. Ike also had the second highest IKE (Integrated Kinetic Energy) of any Atlantic storm in the past 40 years. Integrated Kinetic Energy is a measure of storm surge damaging potential, similar to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, though the IKE is more complex and in many ways more accurate. On a scale that ranges from 1 to 6, with 6 being highest destructive potential, Ike earned a 5.2.
A tropical disturbance formed off the coast of Africa near the end of August. It tracked south of Cape Verde and slowly developed. On September 2, it became Tropical Depression Ten while south-southeast of the southernmost Cape Verde islands. The depression was upgraded to a tropical storm later the same day as it passed to the south of the Cape Verde islands. A few days later it weakened back to a tropical depression. On September 6 it dissipated in the open waters of the Atlantic.
A strong tropical disturbance tracked across the northeastern Caribbean Sea in the third week of September. It meandered around Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, dumping lots of rain across those islands causing a significant amount of damage, despite never developing a closed circulation. By September 24, it began to track northward away from the islands and into the open Atlantic water, and became a tropical storm on September 25. Kyle was upgraded to a hurricane during the afternoon of September 27. It continued northward and maintained hurricane strength until landfall near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in Canada late on September 28. A few hours later, Kyle became extratropical as the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy took effect. In general, Maritimers were spared of the expected damage.
In the last week of September, a very large non-tropical system over the north-central Atlantic slowly moved westward away from the Azores. As it entered warmer waters, it slowly gained tropical characteristics and was declared Subtropical Storm Laura early on September 29. It became fully tropical the next day and was reclassified as Tropical Storm Laura. On October 1 it became "post-tropical" (in the forecaster's words) as it moved over cooler waters.
Tropical Depression Thirteen formed from a very small but well-organized low in the Bay of Campeche on October 6. It quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Marco with 65 mph (100 km/h) winds that afternoon. Marco made landfall near Veracruz, Mexico the next morning at the same intensity. Marco dissipated that night as the small circulation moved inland. At one point, tropical storm-force winds were estimated to extend only 10 miles from the center, which makes it the smallest tropical cyclone on record, beating Cyclone Tracy.
Tropical Storm Nana formed on October 12 from a disturbance which had been drifting toward the northwest over the previous couple days in the middle of the tropical Atlantic Ocean roughly halfway between the west coast of Africa and the Lesser Antilles. The storm weakened into a remnant low on October 14. This is the first use of the name "Nana" since 1990.
A tropical disturbance in the eastern Caribbean Sea was in an area not expecting any development in the second week of October. While drifting across the region, upper-level winds calmed down enough for the tropical disturbance to strengthen and to develop into Tropical Depression Fifteen on October 13. It strengthened to Tropical Storm Omar the next day. Omar quickly strengthened into a 70 mph (110 km/h) storm that afternoon, and became a hurricane that night. It remained a hurricane through that night and it changed little in intensity through the next day, but that evening Omar intensified quickly and became a 115 mph Category 3 storm, and became a 125 mph (205 km/h) storm the next morning. Omar became a weak Category 4 early that morning. However, wind shear and dry air quickly weakened Omar to a minimal hurricane that afternoon as it raced towards the northeast at 26 mph (41 km/h). After dropping to tropical storm strength it became a hurricane again on October 17. It degenerated to a remnant low on October 18.
Tropical Depression Sixteen slowly formed off the coast of Nicaragua. It was not till October 14 that it was then called Tropical Depression Sixteen. After hugging the northern coast of Honduras (which did not let it strengthen), Tropical Depression Sixteen made landfall near midday on October 15. It dissipated inland that evening, never becoming a tropical storm. This storm caused up to $150 million in damage (2008 USD), and may have caused at least 75 deaths.
An area of low pressure stopped moving in the Caribbean Sea without showing tropical development for the first few days at the beginning of November. On November 5, the low pressure system became Tropical Depression Seventeen while just east of Nicaragua. The next day it became Tropical Storm Paloma. It was the first tropical storm to receive this female name. Paloma then made landfall in Cuba and moved slowly and quickly dissipated on November 9. The remains of Paloma were tracked till they came ashore of the Florida Panhandle. Paloma caused up to $315 million (2008 USD) in damage in the area Paloma affected.