The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was notable as one of the deadliest and most costly Atlantic hurricane seasons on record. It officially began on June 1, 2004 and ended on November 30, although storm activity continued into December. This timeline documents tropical cyclone formations, strengthening, weakening, landfalls, extratropical transitions, as well as dissipations. The timeline includes information which was not operationally released, meaning that information from post-storm reviews by the National Hurricane Center, such as information on a storm that was not operationally warned upon, has been included.
This season had 16 tropical depressions, of which, 15 became named storms. Of these, 9 strengthened into hurricanes with 6 intensifying into major hurricanes. The most noteworthy storms for the season were the five named storms that made landfall in the U.S. states of Florida and Alabama, three of them with at least 115 mph (185 km/h) sustained winds (major hurricane strength): Tropical Storm Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. This is the only time in recorded history that four hurricanes affected the U.S. State of Florida although one of the four, Ivan, brought hurricane-force winds to the state without making a landfall there.
Timeline of storms
June
June 1
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins.
July
July 31
2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression One forms 200 miles (325 km) east of Jacksonville, Florida.
August
August 1
2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression One strengthens into Tropical Storm Alex.
August 3
2 a.m. EDT (0600 UTC) – Tropical Storm Alex strengthens into Hurricane Alex. 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) – Hurricane Alex reaches Category 2 strength. 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Two forms near the Lesser Antilles, 415 miles (665 km) east of the Lesser Antilles. 1 p.m. EDT (1700 UTC) – Hurricane Alex skirts the Outer Banks of North Carolina but does not make landfall.
August 4
2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Two degenerates into a tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean Sea. 8 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC, August 5) – Hurricane Alex reaches Category 3 strength. The storm is centered 445 miles (715 km) southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the second furthest north a hurricane has reached this strength.
August 6
8 a.m. AST (1200 UTC) – Hurricane Alex weakens into a tropical storm. 7 a.m. CDT (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Two regenerates in the Yucatán Channel. 2 p.m. AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Storm Alex becomes extratropical east of Newfoundland.
August 9
8 a.m. AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Three forms near the Windward Islands, 115 miles (80 km) south-southeast of Barbados. 7 a.m. CDT (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Two strengthens into Tropical Storm Bonnie in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
August 10
2 a.m. AST (0600 UTC) – Tropical Depression Three strengthens into Tropical Storm Charley.
August 11
2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC) – Tropical Storm Charley strengthens into Hurricane Charley. 8 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC, August 12) – Hurricane Charley skirts the southern coast of Jamaica.
August 12
8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) – Hurricane Charley passes between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman. 10 a.m. EDT (1400 UTC) – Tropical Storm Bonnie makes landfall near Apalachicola, Florida with winds. 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) – Hurricane Charley reaches Category 2 intensity. 2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC) – Tropical Storm Bonnie weakens into a tropical depression.