Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Ivan formed in early September, reached Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, and became the 10th most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded.

Ivan caused catastrophic damage to Grenada as a strong Category 3 storm, heavy damage to Jamaica as a strong Category 4 storm and then Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and the western tip of Cuba as a Category 5 storm. After peaking in strength, the hurricane moved north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike 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. Ivan caused an estimated US$18 billion (2004 USD, $22.6 billion 2016 USD) in damages to the United States, making it the fifth costliest hurricane ever to strike the country.

Tropical Storm Ivan

The name Ivan was used for three tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, one in the western Pacific Ocean, one in the southwest Indian Ocean, and one in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

1998 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1998 Atlantic hurricane season featured the highest number of storm-related fatalities in over 200 years. It officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30, dates which conventionally delimit the period during which most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean. The first tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Alex, developed on July 27, and the season's final storm, Hurricane Nicole, became extratropical on December 1. The strongest storm, Mitch, was tied with Hurricane Dean for the seventh most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Mitch is also the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. The system dropped tremendous amounts of rainfall in Central America, causing 19,000 confirmed deaths and at least $6.2 billion (1998 USD) in damage. The season was the first to feature a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale since Hurricane Andrew in the 1992 season.