AdriansWeather.com
Tracking the Eye of the Storm
Hurricane Season 2004
The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was among the most devastating on record. The year's storms claimed over 3,100 lives, the second largest toll in three decades; 61 of these occurred in the United States. The United States suffered a record $44 billion in property damage from five hurricane landfalls (Charley, Frances, Gaston, Ivan, and Jeanne), and the eyewall crossing of a sixth (Alex). In addition, Bonnie, Hermine, and Matthew made landfall in the United States as tropical storms. Florida was battered by Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Several islands of the Caribbean were also hard hit by Charley, Ivan, and Jeanne, particularly Grenada, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cuba, and Hispaniola. Additionally, the Bahamas were hit hard by Frances and Jeanne. Fifteen named storms developed in 2004, including Nicole, a subtropical storm. Nine became hurricanes and six became major hurricanes. One additional tropical depression did not reach storm strength. These totals are considerably above the long-term (1944-2003) means of 10.2 named storms, 6.0 hurricanes, and 2.6 major hurricanes. August alone saw the formation of eight tropical storms, a new record for that month. The season also featured several intense and long-lived hurricanes. Ivan, a category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, reached a minimum pressure of 910 hPa, a value surpassed by only five other tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin since 1851. In addition, Ivan was a major hurricane for a total of 10 days, a new record for a single storm since the most reliable records began in 1944.
2004 ATLANTIC STORM SUMMARIES
Hurricanes/Tropical Storms (maximum storm strength*) dates, storm details in brief
2004 brought an unprecedented 4 landfalling hurricanes to the state of Florida
When not only your weather historians, but also the media, and regular folks look back on the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season, one thing will clearly appear in their minds. The Gang of Four. The four strong to major hurricanes that ravaged all or at least parts of the Florida Peninsula. And, they all didn't occur just over the course of the entire season, but during the span of a month and a half.
From the middle of August until the end of September, 2004, these four storms: Charley, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan hammered Florida from all sides with winds and pressures ranging in strength from Category Two to Category Four in intensity. All four of these storms, were at one point, major hurricanes with Ivan being the strongest at Category Five with the sixth lowest pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic at 910 millibars, or 26.87 inches of Hg.
Images and Movies
Hurricane Charley making landfall in Southwestern Florida
Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall on the Florida coast near Stuart
