Hurricane Dolly
Hurricane Dolly was the first hurricane of the 2008 season to hit the United States, and the fourth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Dolly reached its peak intensity as a Category 2 Hurricane on July 23rd when it was approximately 20 miles east of the mouth of the Rio Grande River.
Hurricane Dolly lost some of its intensity in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and hit the US as a Category 1 hurricane instead of at the expected Category 2 strength. It arrived with winds of 85 miles per hour, and then lingered for weeks with the resulting flooding. It is estimated that Dolly caused over a billion dollars in hurricane damages in the United States.
Hurricane Dolly Path:
After spending several days threatening the countries along the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Dolly made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula near Cancun on July 21st. On July 23rd the tropical storm strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane. After being updated to hurricane status, Dolly continued on a northwest path toward southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.
Dolly made US landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with wind speeds of 85 mph at South Padre Island off the coast of Texas in the evening of July 23rd. Hurricane Dolly continued her trek toward the mainland, and two hours later hit Port Mansfield, Texas, with slightly less powerful winds at a speed of 78 mph. After making landfall, Dolly weakened and downgraded to a tropical storm on the morning of July 24th.
Dolly continued on a northwest path and crossed the Rio Grande River into northern Mexico in the evening of July 24th. On July 26th it entered back into the United States near El Paso, Texas, all the while continuing to dump many inches of rain on the towns in its path. It moved north across New Mexico and officially dissipated on July 27th, but continued to produce heavy rainfall over New Mexico for another day.
