Hurricane Dolly (2008) and warm sea surface temperatures. Dolly strengthened steadily beginning on July 21, and by the afternoon of July 22, it strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. At this point, the storm was located about 165 mi (265 km) east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas. Steady strengthening continued that evening and into the morning of July 23, at which point Dolly reached Category 2 intensity while just east of the Rio Grande Valley at 10:00 that morning with winds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 963 mbar. At 1:00 pm CDT
Hurricane Dolly (2008) (1800 UTC) that same day, Dolly made landfall on South Padre Island, Texas, slightly weaker as a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph (140 km/h) sustained winds and a pressure of 967 mbar. Hurricane Dolly then moved west-northwestward over the Laguna Madre crossing onto the mainland near the Cameron-Willacy County line. South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, Los Fresnos, Bayview, Brownsville, San Benito, Rio Hondo, Arroyo City and especially Harlingen suffered heavy wind and flooding. Hurricane Dolly then thrashed the Delta Region along and north of Highway 107 with its most fierce winds and rain. Towns like Santa Rosa,