Hurricane Dolly was a tropical cyclone that made landfall in extreme southern Texas in July of 2008. Dolly was the fourth tropical cyclone and second hurricane to form during the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the first U.S. landfalling hurricane of the 2008 season. Dolly developed on July 20 from an area of disturbed weather in association with a strong tropical wave. It was named Dolly at the same time it formed—skipping the tropical depression phase entirely as the precursor wave already had tropical storm-force winds. This marked the earliest time a fourth named cyclone has formed since the 2005 season, which holds the record.

Tropical Storm Cristobal was the third named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed on July 19 from a trough of low pressure off the Southeast U.S. Coast. In a marginally favorable environment, it attained minimal tropical storm status later that day. The storm remained offshore, and peaked as a strong tropical storm on July 21 while it passed east of Cape Hatteras. It accelerated northeast parallel to the East Coast and became extratropical on July 23 near Nova Scotia. Because it was a weak storm and never made landfall, Cristobal’s effects were mostly limited to moderate rainfall. The storm dropped 3.43 in (87 mm) of rain in Wilmington, North Carolina, where minor flooding was reported. Additionally, the extratropical remnants contributed to rainfall on Nova Scotia which caused some street and basement flooding.