Tornadoes, hurricanes, and even snow are among the east Mississippi and west Alabama weather highlights for 2008.

Record high temperatures in the summer. Record low temperatures in the late fall. And we saw just about every extreme in between.

Much of the year was dominated by drought. It was busted by tropical storms.

Tropical Storm Fay brought 50 mph winds and torrential downpours to the area. Combine that with the the rain we received from two close calls in Hurricanes Gustav and Hurricane Ike, not to mention other big rain events throughout the fall, and we ended our year only a couple inches below normal.

The hurricane season alone brought records, including the first time we had a major hurricane in each of five consecutive months.

"Even though here locally we didn't get a whole lot of effect out of them, but the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas really had a traumatic year," said John Baxter of Meridian's National Weather Service office.

The biggest of our big weather headlines for 2008 also had some influence from the hurricanes that came close to the area. One hundred eight tornadoes hit Mississippi in 2008, setting a state record for the most tornadoes in a year.

"Part of that, of course, is more thunderstorms and things like that, but part of it is we're getting better at finding them and spotting them, and then knowing where to look," Baxter said.

Now we are looking ahead to 2009. Early indications are that we may be looking at an early spring, with above normal temperatures expected for January, February, and March.