Hurricanes

This morning I was watching the news about Hurricane Irene and made me think about all the hurricanes I went through during my last years in FL. I had lived in Florida since 1993, at the age of 10 and moved away in 2006. I really hadn't been through very many hurricanes until the year 2004. that year was something pretty special for S. Floridians.

Hurricane Frances

September 4, 2004

Category 2

Frances then passed over the central sections of the state of Florida in the U.S. only three weeks after Hurricane Charley, causing significant damage to the state's citrus crop, closing schools and canceling a football game. Frances remained stable at Category 2 intensity with 105 miles per hour (169 km/h) maximum sustained winds while it battered the east coast of Florida between Fort Pierce and West Palm Beachfor much of September 4.

Hurricane Ivan

September 16, 2004 (Alabama, later to Florida)

Catagory 3 Alabama later to Florida as a Tropical Depression

Ivan was a strange one... the hurricane moved north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike Gulf Shores, Alabama as a strong Category 3 storm, causing significant damage. Ivan dropped heavy rains on the Southeastern United States as it progressed northeast and east through the eastern United States, becoming an extratropical cyclone. The remnant low from the storm moved into the western subtropical Atlantic and regenerated into a tropical cyclone, which then moved across Florida and the Gulf of Mexico into Louisiana and Texas, causing minimal damage.

Hurricane Jeanne

September 25, 2004

Category 3

Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Jeanne made landfall later in the day in Florida just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from where Frances had struck 3 weeks earlier.

Hurricane Wilma

October 24, 2004

Category 2/3

Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. As a result, Wilma is ranked among the top five most costly hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic and the fourth most costly storm in United States history. Wilma emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. As Wilma began accelerating to the northeast, gradual re-intensification occurred, and the hurricane became a Category 3 hurricane on October 24. Shortly thereafter, Wilma made landfall in Cape Romano, Florida with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). As Wilma was crossing Florida, it had briefly weakened back to a Category 2 hurricane, but again re-intensified as it reached the Atlantic Ocean. The hurricane intensified into a Category 3 hurricane for the final occasion, but Wilma dropped below that intensity while accelerating northeastward.

Hurricane Irene

September 25, 2011

Category 2 or 3

Hurricane Irene is now forecast to stay a Category 2 storm and make landfall at Cape Lookout around 9 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center.The Triangle could get 1 to 2 inches of rain and wind gusts up to 30 or 40 mph. This storm doesn't sound like it is going to affect the Triangle very much, but boy does this bring back memories of 2004... What a year it was...