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Season Nears End, And Florida Again Avoids Hurricane

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2008

TAMPA - The 2008 hurricane season ends Sunday and will pass with barely a notice in Florida. Residents of Texas and islands in the Caribbean Sea, however, would have a different view of this year's season.

For the third year in a row, Florida escaped a hurricane. Only Tropical Storm Fay hit – again and again – though West Central Florida saw little of the torrential rain Fay hosed on the rest of the state.

The last time Florida went through three consecutive seasons without a hurricane was from 2001 to 2003. Four hurricanes hit the state the next year.

The last four consecutive seasons that Florida avoided a hurricane were 1988 to 1991. The next year, Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida.

Here's a recap of the 2008 season, by the numbers:

16 – Named storms

8 – Hurricanes

7 – Tropical storms

1 – Sub-tropical storm

5 – Category 3 or stronger hurricanes

$27.8 million – Federal Emergency Management aid in Florida for damage from Tropical Storm Fay

27.65 inches – Most rain recorded from Tropical Storm Fay, 8 miles northwest of Melbourne

0.72 inches – Rain recorded at Tampa International Airport from Tropical Storm Fay

4 – Number of times Tropical Storm Fay made landfall in Florida

18 – Days Hurricane Bertha lasted, the longest-lived July hurricane on record

3 – Consecutive seasons since Florida has been hit by a hurricane

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