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All storm pages · 2008 Atlantic season

Hurricane Gustav 2008

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 25 to September 4, 2008

Gustav's 155 mph landfall in Cuba on August 30, 2008 ranks the second-strongest of the 56 storms with a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 4 different places: Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and Louisiana. No other storm of the 2008 Atlantic season matched its 155 mph peak; the season had 17 storms. The name Gustav is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Gustav (2008) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N100°W90°W80°W70°W60°WShreveportHaiti, 80 mphJamaica, 70 mphCuba, 145 mphLouisiana, 105 mphPeak 155 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Gustav (2008) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 26Aug 28Aug 30Sep 1Sep 3Sep 5mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 140 miles northeast of Willemstad, Curacao
  2. Tropical storm 180 miles north of Oranjestad, Aruba
  3. Hurricane 80 miles south of Pedernales, the Dominican Republic
  4. Landfall Haiti: Category 1, 80 mph, 992 mb
  5. Landfall Jamaica: tropical storm, 70 mph, 984 mb
  6. Landfall Jamaica: tropical storm, 70 mph, 987 mb
  7. Major hurricane 115 miles southeast of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
  8. Landfall Cuba: Category 4, 145 mph, 943 mb
  9. Peak 35 miles southwest of Artemisa, La Habana, Cuba; lowest pressure 941 mb
  10. Landfall Cuba
  11. Landfall Louisiana: Category 2, 105 mph, 954 mb
  12. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 75 miles north of Conway, Arkansas
  13. Last record 10 miles north-northeast of Bay City, Michigan

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind155 mph · tied 45th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure941 mb · tied 123rd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy18.1 · 282nd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone10.2 days · tied 234th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

Its winds climbed 70 mph in the 24 hours to August 30.

In the 2008 season

04080120160Gustav

Storm 7 of 17 in 2008, hurricane 3 of 8; it formed after Fay and before Hanna. Gustav produced 13% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Shreveport, Louisiana0 mi30 mphSeptember 2
Texarkana, Arkansas3 mi25 mphSeptember 3
Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica4 mi65 mphAugust 29
May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica4 mi70 mphAugust 29
Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba5 mi150 mphAugust 30
Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica5 mi65 mphAugust 29
Port Morant, Saint Thomas, Jamaica5 mi70 mphAugust 28
Kingston, Jamaica8 mi70 mphAugust 28

Every storm within 50 miles of Kingston, Jamaica

Similar landfalls in Cuba

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Cuba came closest to Gustav's 155 mph:

All 56 storms with a landfall record in Cuba

Also peaked at 155 mph

Of 11 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: