Meteorological history of Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan
A picture of the track of Hurricane Ivan
Track of Hurricane Ivan, according to the Saffir-Simpson scale
Meteorological history
FormedSeptember 2, 2004
Remnant lowSeptember 24, 2004
DissipatedSeptember 25, 2004
Category 5 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds165 mph (270 km/h)
Lowest pressure910 mbar (hPa); 26.87 inHg
Overall effects
Areas affectedWindward Islands (especially Grenada), Venezuela, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cuba, U.S. Gulf Coast

Part of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season
History

Effects

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The meteorological history of Hurricane Ivan, the longest tracked tropical cyclone of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, lasted from late August through late September. The hurricane developed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on August 31. Tracking westward due to a ridge, favorable conditions allowed it to develop into Tropical Depression Nine on September 2 in the deep tropical Atlantic Ocean. The cyclone gradually intensified until September 5, when it underwent rapid deepening and reached Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale; at the time Ivan was the southernmost major North Atlantic hurricane on record.

Ivan quickly weakened due to dry air, but it gradually reorganized, passing just south of Grenada as a major hurricane on September 7. The hurricane attained Category 5 status in the central Caribbean Sea. Over the subsequent days its intensity fluctuated largely due to eyewall replacement cycles, and Ivan passed just south of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and western Cuba with winds at or slightly below Category 5 status. Turning northward and encountering unfavorable conditions, Ivan gradually weakened before making landfall just west of Gulf Shores, Alabama on September 16 with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). The cyclone quickly weakened to tropical depression status as it turned to the northeast, and Ivan transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on September 18.

The remnant low of Ivan turned to the south and southwest, and after crossing Florida on September 21 it began to reacquire tropical characteristics. It became a tropical depression again on September 22 to the southeast of Louisiana, and Ivan reached winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) before weakening and moving ashore along southwestern Louisiana as a tropical depression; the circulation of Ivan dissipated after crossing into Texas on September 25. The cyclone broke several intensity records, and its duration was the tenth-longest on record for an Atlantic hurricane.