2005 Nubblies Fantasy Hurricane Pick Em

<center>The 2005 Hurricane Bracket</center>

The 2005 hurricane season officially ended Wednesday, November 30. With the regular season over, it's time to start looking at the post season. The hurricane selection committee really had its hands full this year. With a field of so many, it was hard to narrow it down to just sixteen. Many feel that with only four bids, the Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Conference (ENPHC) was under-represented. However, the Atlantic Hurricane Conference (AHC), with twelve bids, was as strong as ever. Some speculators also feel that Tropical Storm Gamma is overrated, but let's not forget that Gamma destroyed 48 homes, damaged 264 and forced more than 11,000 people to evacuate.

<center>Who's your pick to make it to the big dance? </center>



<font size="4"><center>Hurricane Bracketology 101</font></center>

#1 Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina struck south Florida as a Category 1 storm August 25, killing 11 people. Four days later, the Category 4 Katrina slammed into Louisiana, leaving nearly 80 percent of New Orleans under water and devastating Gulf Coast communities.

#1 Hurricane Wilma
Wilma, the record-tying 12th hurricane of a severe season, made landfall twice: in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in the Florida Keys. It peaked in intensity as a Category 5 storm with 175 mph winds and left at least 16 people dead and extensive damage.

#2 Hurricane Rita
Rita hit South Florida and the Florida Keys as a Category 2 storm on September 20. As it moved away from Florida, Rita became Category 5. After weakening, Rita came ashore again September 24 near Port Arthur, Texas, as a Category 3.

#2 Hurricane Dennis
Hurricane Dennis killed five people in the U.S. and 32 in Cuba and Haiti.

#3 Hurricane Emily
Hurricane Emily made landfall twice in Mexico -- once on the Yucatan Peninsula, where it came ashore as a Category 4 storm, and days later near San Fernando on Mexico's Gulf Coast.

#3 Hurricane Stan
Stan slammed into Mexico's eastern coast as a Category 1 hurricane on October 4, killing at least 277 people. Stan has weakened over the mountains in southeastern Mexico, producing heavy rain and causing flooding.

#4 Hurricane Maria
Maria formed on the heels of Hurricane Katrina's deadly landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast, but spun quickly into the cold waters of the North Atlantic where it posed no threat to land.

#4 Hurricane Beta
Beta broke records by being the 23rd named storm of the 2005 season. Beta made landfall as a Category 2 with 105 mph winds near the remote town of Sandy Bay Sirpi, northeast of Managua, Nicaragua. Beta then weakened to a tropical storm and eventually a tropical depression.

#5 Hurricane Irene
Just as it gained hurricane strength, Irene turned away from land and swirled into the north Atlantic. Irene was the ninth named storm of the 2005 hurricane season, and the third storm to reach hurricane force winds.

#5 Hurricane Ophelia
Ophelia never made landfall as a hurricane, but trudged along the North Carolina coast, dropping 18 inches of rain in some locations. The storm bypassed New England, but was still at tropical storm strength when it struck Nova Scotia.

#6 Tropical Storm Gamma
On November 18, Tropical Depression Twenty-seven became Tropical Storm Gamma. After regeneration, floods from Gamma killed 32 people in Honduras. An additional thirteen Hondurans were reported missing, and three people were killed in Belize.

#6 Hurricane Philippe
Philippe formed in the Atlantic east of Barbados on the same day Rita formed near the Bahamas. Philippe moved north toward Bermuda but turned away and dissipated before reaching the island.

#7 Hurricane Kenneth
Hurricane Kenneth was just one of a series of tropical storms which formed in the middle of September 2005 off the coast of Baja California. Kenneth had sustained wind speeds of 130 miles per hour.

#7 Hurricane Hilary
Another Pacific Ocean hurricane, Hilary gathered strength and organized into a classic spiral structure for several days. At its peak strength, it had sustained winds of around 90 miles per hour.

#8 Hurricane Max
Tropical Storm Max absorbed the remnants of Tropical Depression Lidia. On late September 19, the tropical storm was upgraded to Hurricane Max. The system began to weaken almost immediately thereafter, however, and Max dissipated in the early morning hours of September 22.

#8 Hurricane Adrian
An early storm, Adrian formed on May 17, only two days after the season began. It strengthened from a tropical depression about 440 miles southwest of Guatemala and El Salvador and began tracking northeast towards San Salvador, and reached hurricane strength on the morning of May 19. Three indirect deaths are linked to the storm, but no direct deaths had been reported.

[ice cold BRU]

ive got $ 1,000 on katrina goin all the way...is there a spread?

Watch for Stan to be a dark horse...

[StrikingOblivion]

I agree, Stan...taking 227 lives will deff. be a contender and can storm with the best of the field. I'd like to see him in the big dance, prime time babyyy!