page_title: Timeline of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season
section_title: August
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season / Timeline of storms / August
caption_attribution_description: The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of Hurricane Frances on August 31, 2004 at 17:55 UTC (1:55 PM EDT). At the time this image was taken Frances was located approximately 230 km (140 miles) north-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico and was moving towards the west near 26 km/hr (16 mph). Maximum sustained winds were near 225 km/hr (140 mph) and the storm's minimum central pressure was down to 942 millibars. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions and formats.
context_page_description: 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 sustained winds: Tropical Storm Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. This is the only time in recorded history that four hurricanes affected the U.S.
context_section_description: 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 45 mph (72 km/h) 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.
  August 13
  12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 UTC) – Hurricane Charley makes its first landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph (190 km/h) winds, but weakening back down to Category 2 as it leaves the island just west of Havana.
  8 a.m. AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Four forms 240 miles (390 km) south-southeast of Cape Verde.
  10 a.m. EDT (1400 UTC) – Hurricane Charley reaches Category 3 intensity again.
  1 p.m. EDT (1700 UTC) – Hurricane Charley reaches Category 4 intensity.
  2 p.m. AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Five forms 1,150 miles (1,850 km) east of the Windward Islands.
  3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 UTC) – Hurricane Charley makes its second landfall just West of Fort Myers, Florida with 150 mph (240 km/h) winds.
  4:45 p.m. EDT (2045 UTC) – Hurricane Charley makes its third landfall at Punta Gorda, Florida with 145 mph (233 km/h) winds.
  8 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC, August 14) – Tropical Depression Bonnie degenerates into a remnant low.
  8 p.m. AST (0000 UTC, August 14) – Tropical Depression Four strengthens into Tropical Storm Danielle.
  10:30 p.m. EDT (0130 UTC, August 14) – Hurricane Charley crosses central Florida, passing near Orlando.
  11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 UTC, August 14) – Hurricane Charley exits Florida near Daytona Beach.
  August 14
  10 a.m. EDT (1400 UTC) – Hurricane Charley makes a fourth landfall near Cape Romain, South Carolina with 80 mph (129 km/h) winds and moves back offshore.
  12 p.m. EDT (1600 UTC) – Hurricane Charley makes a fifth landfall near North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with 75 mph (121 km/h).
  2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC) – Hurricane Charley weakens into a tropical storm.
  2 p.m. AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Five strengthens into Tropical Storm Earl.
  8 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC, August 15) – Tropical Storm Charley becomes extratropical over South Carolina.
  8 p.m. AST (0000 UTC, August 15) – Tropical Storm Danielle strengthens into Hurricane Danielle.
  August 15
  10 a.m. EDT (1400 UTC) – Tropical Storm Earl passes just south of Grenada and enters the Caribbean.
  2 p.m. AST (1800 UTC) – Hurricane Danielle reaches Category 2 intensity.
  8 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC, August 16)
caption: Hurricane Frances on August 31
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