Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
![]() Hurricane Ivan at peak intensity in the Yucatán Channel on September 13 | |
Formed | September 3, 2004 |
---|---|
Dissipated | September 29, 2004 |
(Remnant low after September 27) | |
Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 180 mph (285 km/h) |
Lowest pressure | 910 mbar (hPa); 26.87 inHg |
Fatalities | 1,432 |
Damage | $451,100 (2004 USD) |
Areas affected | Windward Islands (especially Grenada), Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Barbados, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Grand Cayman, Cuba, Yucatan Peninsula, Eastern United States, Louisiana, Texas, most of the United States Gulf Coast, and Atlantic Canada |
Part of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Ivan was the strongest hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed as a Cape Verde-type hurricane in early September, and became the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the year. Ivan reached Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, the highest possible category and the only one of the season. At the time it was the sixth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record.
Ivan caused great damage to Grenada, which it struck directly at Category 3 strength, and heavy damage to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and the western tip of Cuba. After peaking in strength, it moved north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to make landfall as a strong Category 3 storm in the United States, in Orange Beach, Alabama, causing very heavy damage there. Ivan dropped heavy rains on the southeastern United States as it looped across Florida and back into the Gulf of Mexico. The remnant low from the storm regenerated into a new tropical system, which moved into Louisiana and Texas, causing minimal damage. Ivan caused an estimated $13 billion worth of damage in the United States, making it the fifth costliest hurricane to ever strike the United States.