Hurricane Dolly 2008

Hurricane Dolly made landfall near South Padre Island, Texas, on July 23, 2008. The storm came ashore as a Category Two hurricane, pounding parts of south Texas with sustained winds of up to 100 miles per hour. The storm weakened over land, and was downgraded to Tropical Storm Dolly on the evening of July 23, 2008.¹

At 7 a.m. EST on July 24, 2008, Tropical Storm Dolly's maximum sustained winds had decreased to around 50 miles per hour.²

Fast Facts

1. Hurricane Dolly downgraded to Tropical Storm Dolly on July 23, 2008¹
2. July 24, 2008: Moving west-northwest near 7 mph²
3. At 7 a.m. EST, storm was over land; located about 50 miles east-southeast of Laredo, Texas²
4. Maximum sustained winds near 50 mph²
5. Tropical Storm Dolly was upgraded to Hurricane Dolly on Tuesday, July 22, 2008³
6. Storm made landfall at South Padre Island, Texas on July 23, 2008¹
7. Dolly was a Category Two hurricane when it came ashore, with sustained winds near 100 mph⁴
8. On the morning of July 24, 2008, a tropical storm warning was in effect from Brownsville to Port Aransas, Texas
9. 1,200 National Guard troops activated by Texas Governor Rick Perry ahead of the storm⁵
10. Perry declared 14 Texas counties disaster areas before the hurricane made landfall¹
11. Shell Oil evacuated workers from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico⁵

Flooding Threat

By the evening of July 23, 2008, Hurricane Dolly had weakened into Tropical Storm Dolly. As the system slowly moved inland, forecasters said Dolly could dump eight to 12 inches of rain on parts of south Texas and northeastern Mexico. Officials at the National Hurricane Center said some isolated areas could get up to 20 inches of rain in the days following Dolly's landfall. Widespread flooding was expected.²

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