Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical depression near Nassau on August 23, forming from the remnants of Tropical Depression #10 as they interacted with a tropical wave and an upper-level trough. Moving through the Bahamas, Katrina became a hurricane on August 25th, just two hours before making landfall at 2230 UTC, August 25th, near the Miami-Dade County and Broward County border. After developing an eye during its 6 hour long trek across the Florida Peninsula, it weakened to a tropical storm emerging from Florida in the early morning of August 26th. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, Katrina began a period of deep intensification developing into a category 5 hurricane by August 28th with a maximum intensity of 150 knot winds and a wind field spanning 200 nautical miles from its center. This, in part, was generated by a surprise warm-core eddy situated along the hurricane’s path which gave extra fuel to the growing monster. Turning North, Hurricane Katrina experienced a rapid period of deterioration, dropping to a category 3 before making landfall near Buras, Louisiana at 1110 UTC, August 29th. Quickly weakening as it passed over land, Katrina was still able to churn up over 33 tornadoes as it turned across the Tennessee Valley, dissipating by August 31st. The damage from Hurricane Katrina was widespread with many catastrophic failures across the southern coastal states. Levees along the Mississippi River protecting New Orleans suffered catastrophic failures which lead to the now infamous flooding of the city and millions were left without basic utilities. Among the environmental impacts were oil rigs washing up on shore and the restructuring of much of the Mississippi delta due to this powerful storm. Hurricane Katrina ended up costing over 1800 lives and $81 billion in damages across America. (information courtesy of NOAA)