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Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav is the 7th tropical cyclone, 3rd hurricane and seconf major hurricane of the 2008 atlantic hurricane season. Gustav formed on the morning of august 25th 2008 about 260 miles southeast of port-au-prince, the capital of Haiti and rapidly strenghthened into a tropical storm that after noon and into a hurricane early on august 26th. Later that day it made landfill near the haitian town of jacmel. As of august 31st there was a total of 88 deaths recorded to Gustav in the Caribbean. On september 1st the center of Gustav made landfall in the United States along the Louisiana coast near cocodrie as a category two hurricane, dropping to a category one hurricane four hours later. On August 25th 2008 a tropical wave that had previously produced rain ans squalls in the lesser antilles developed well defined curve bands and briefly exhibited an upper level eye feature. The national hurricane center designated it tropical depression seven and dispatched a hurricane hunter aircraft to investigate the system. At the time, the system had a well defined outflow in all but the southeast and southwest quadrant, and data from the hurricane hunter aircraft comfirmed that the tropical depression had strengthened into a tropical storm Gustav. A brief period of disorganization proved to be temporary as a well defined eye wall formed that same night. In the early hours of august 26th as the storm approached haiti's southwestern peninsula another hurricane hunter aircraft confirmed that forecasters already suspected that Gustav had strengthened into a hurricane with topping 90 miles per hour. Hurricane Gustav regained a produced eye as it made landfall on haiti's mountainous terrain its circulation was disrupted and it lost little strength. Although downgrading to a tropical storm it still itstill had a pronounced eye in its mid and upper level structures. Hoever the storms movement slowed and continued interaction with nearby haiti combined with the incursion of mid level...