Obituary: Hurricane Ike (August 19, 2008 - September 14, 2008)

Hurricane Ike was born from an easterly wave leaving western Sudan on August 19, 2008, which moved westward through Nigeria and Mali and reached the coastal country of Senegal on August 28. The wave then drifted into the Atlantic Ocean and slowly intensified over subsequent days while moving generally towards the west-northwest. On September 1, the wave developed a sufficient amount of convection and Ike was given his original birth name, Tropical Depression Nine. As a depression, Ike continued to intensify and become organized. At 5:00 p.m. EDT, he was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ike. Ike was raised in an environment which was supportive of intensification.

After a series of minor setbacks, structural inconsistencies and comical adolescent hijinks, Ike had a growth spurt and began to seriously intensify in the late morning of September 3. Microwave satellites depicted an eye beginning to form and Ike strengthened to just below hurricane status. Ike’s eye continued to become better defined and by mid-afternoon Ike was upgraded to a hurricane. Due to the lack of wind shear, Ike began to undergo explosive intensification and was upgraded to a major hurricane with winds of 115 mph only three hours after being upgraded to a hurricane. During the three hour span, the pressure dropped 24 mbar. Ike continued to intensify and was further upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane three hours later with winds of 135 mph and a pressure of 948 mbar.

By the early morning hours on September 4, Ike had reached his peak intensity of 145 mph with a pressure of 935 mbar, making him the most intense storm thus far in the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.

By the early morning hours of September 7, Ike had passed directly over the Turks and Caicos Islands with winds of 135 mph. He made landfall as a strong Category 3 hurricane in Holguín Province, Cuba, on the evening of September 7. He also made landfall a second time in Pinar del Río before entering the Gulf of Mexico in the afternoon of September 9.

During the night of September 10, Ike exhibited a rapid drop in central pressure; however wind speed only increased from 85 mph to 100 mph, indicating the structure was absorbing and distributing energy over a large area, rather than concentrating it near the center.

Over the next two days, Ike maintained a steady course towards Galveston and Houston. He increased only slightly in intensity to 110 mph - the high end of Category 2 - but exhibited an unusually large wind field. As Ike approached the Texas coast, his inner structure and eyewall became more organized.

Ike made U.S. landfall at Galveston, Texas, on September 13 at 2:10am CDT, as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph and a central pressure of 952 mbar. The 2am NHC advisory cited tropical storm and hurricane force winds extending 275 miles and 120 miles, respectively, from the center.

During the day of September 13, Ike began a slow turn to the north and then northeast. After losing strength to Tropical Storm force winds, he passed near Houston; 100 miles to the east of Dallas, Texas; and west of Little Rock, Arkansas. He returned to his roots as a Tropical Depression and continued northeast, passing near St. Louis, Missouri. Ike brought heavy rainfall all along his path, but moved more quickly the farther north he went.

Early on September 14, Ike merged with a large cold front moving from west to east across the central United States. In a final burst of unforeseen energy he created very strong winds, power outages and mass destruction all the way up the Ohio River valley as far north as Cincinnati. He was last seen smothering a Carson Palmer pass intended for Antonio Chatman. On the late afternoon of September 14, 2008, Hurricane Ike died, reportedly eaten by a large fish-like creature that pulled him down into the Ohio River basin and made him its Sunday dinner.

Ike has been blamed for 120 deaths, primarily in Haiti and the United States, with many of the deaths taking place well inland. Damages from Ike in coastal areas are estimated at $27 billion. If the estimates are accurate, Ike will be the fourth costliest Atlantic hurricane and third costliest U.S. hurricane of all time.

His burial took place abruptly with no known audience, and his remains will be slowly digested over the course of the next thousand years. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be sent to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.