MOUNT VERNON — In the classic words of Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

That wisdom played out Sunday as the remnants of Hurricane Ike, which hammered the Texas coast Friday and Saturday, defied expectations by gaining power instead of dissipating as the storm quickly spun northeast across the continental United States.

As initially forecast, the hurricane lost energy after coming ashore at Galveston with 110 mph winds Friday night, and was downgraded by the National Hurricane Center first to a tropical storm, then to a tropical depression as its sustained winds fell below 39 mph.

But as the storm continued inland, it funneled warm, tropical air northward into the Midwest. At the same time, a strong cold front was sweeping into the Great Plains from the Rocky Mountains. According to the National Weather Service, the tropical depression was regenerated by energetic upper-level winds in the jet stream. This boosted the hurricane remnants back to sustained wind levels around 39 mph, which meteorologists describe as an extra-tropical storm, due to its rare location far north of the tropics.

The regenerated storm spun northeast up the cold front, spreading rain to Indiana, Michigan and northwest Ohio, while sending the brunt of its winds along the I-71 corridor through Kentucky and Ohio. Maximum straight-line winds associated with the storm in Ohio gusted to the hurricane level of 75 mph, causing extensive damage and power outages throughout the region. Port Columbus reported a maximum wind gust of 75 mph, while Mansfield’s Lahm Airport reported a peak wind of 73 mph.

The storm has continued northeast into Canada, basically following the course of the St. Lawrence Seaway. It is expected to subside and exit into the North Atlantic by late tonight into early Tuesday morning.