Hurricane Alex (2004)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

July 31, 2004 to August 6, 2004

Peak strength

Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)

Lowest pressure

957 mb (28.26 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 46 km (29 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

11.4

Tropical-storm-force wind reached

300 nmi (556 km, 345 mi) from the center at its widest

Hurricane-force wind reached

50 nmi (93 km, 58 mi) from the center at its widest

Eyewall radius at its peak

20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)

Overall size

200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) to the outermost closed isobar

Peak gust in the best track

130 kt (150 mph)

Fastest the center moved

47 kt (54 mph)

Identifier

AL012004

Radar at KMHX as it neared land, Aug 3, 12:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

8

Property damage

$7.5 million

Crop damage

none recorded

Events recorded

19 in 4 reports from 3 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

11 hurricane (typhoon), 5 high surf, 2 flash flood, 1 tropical storm.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 907 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 7.55 inches (192 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

• Tropical Storm BonnieNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Storm55 kt · 1001 mb
• Hurricane CharleyNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 4130 kt · 941 mb
• Hurricane DanielleNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 295 kt · 964 mb
• Tropical Storm EarlNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Storm45 kt · 1009 mb
• Hurricane FrancesNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 4125 kt · 935 mb
• Hurricane GastonNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 165 kt · 985 mb
• Tropical Storm HermineNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Storm50 kt · 1002 mb
• Hurricane IvanNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 5145 kt · 910 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Depression30 kt · 1009 mb
• Hurricane JeanneNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 3105 kt · 950 mb
• Hurricane KarlNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 4125 kt · 938 mb
• Hurricane LisaNorth Atlantic · 2004Cat 165 kt · 987 mb
• Tropical Storm MatthewNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Storm40 kt · 997 mb
• Tropical Storm NicoleNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Storm45 kt · 986 mb
• Tropical Storm OttoNorth Atlantic · 2004Tropical Storm45 kt · 995 mb

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Alex