On August 12, Hurricane Charley, after moving through the northwest Caribbean Sea, turned north and accelerated cross the western end of Cuba, and just west of the lower Florida Keys. Early on August 13, the hurricane intensified to Category 4 status and turned to a north northeast direction before making landfall near Port Charlotte around 3 PM EDT.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS MFL wrote it up.
On August 12, Hurricane Charley, after moving through the northwest Caribbean Sea, turned north and accelerated cross the western end of Cuba, and just west of the lower Florida Keys. Early on August 13, the hurricane intensified to Category 4 status and turned to a north northeast direction before making landfall near Port Charlotte around 3 PM EDT. The first outer rainband, with wind gusts estimated up to 60 mph, impacted the south Florida Peninsula between midnight and 2 AM EDT In Collier County, a peak wind gust of 84 mph was measured at 2:50 PM EDT on the top of a condominium at Vanderbilt Beach before the equipment failed. The Naples ASOS equipment failed well before the maximum winds or minimum pressure occurred. Wind gusts at La Belle were estimated at 80 mph.Rainfall in most locations in Collier County was around two inches with an unofficial amount of 7.5 inches reported in North Naples. Radar rainfall estimates of locally 8 to 10 inches were made in North Naples. Flooding was mostly minimal. The highest Storm Tide along the southwest Florida Coast was estimated at three feet near Wiggins Pass with heights of one to two feet from Naples to Marco Island to Everglades City. Tidal flooding was minimal. Lake Okeechobee levels increased up to three feet above normal along the north and northeast shores.A long-track tornado moved through the open country of the Everglades in eastern Hendry County before doing minor damage to buildings in Clewiston.Hurricane wind damage was greatest in North Naples and Vanderbilt Beach with numerous power poles, trees and signs blown down, and a few roofs damaged. Damage also occurred to screened porches throughout the Naples-Marco Island metropolitan areas. Damage occurred to Gulf-side structures along most of the coastline but beach erosion was mostly minor. Four persons in Naples suffered minor injuries when their vehicle was touched by a downed power line during the storm. Three persons in Collier County died from indirect causes after the hurricane. An estimated 130,000 customers in Collier County lost power. About 2,500 people took refuge in six shelters.Damage in Hendry and Glades counties consisted mainly of downed trees, power lines and signs, with minor roof damage to several homes. An estimated 1000 customers lost electricity in Glades County.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 1:00 PM EST, 11 hours earlier.
SOUTH FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
200 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004
.DISCUSSION...STILL WAITING FOR CHARLEY TO MAKE ITS IMPACT FELT
WHICH WILL GOVERN THE WEATHER THROUGH FRIDAY. THE WAY IT LOOKS NOW
THE RAIN WILL START OVER THE WESTERN ZONES LATE TONIGHT AND OVER THE
EASTERN ZONES TOMORROW AFTERNOON. SINCE THERE IS A LARGE AREA OF
DRIER AIR NORTH AND EAST OF THE STORM THE EXTREME EASTERN PORTION OF
THE ZONES WILL BE A PLACE WHERE THE RAIN CHANCE CAN BE LOWER THAN
WHAT WILL BE MENTIONED IN THE TEXT. WE WILL STILL FEEL THE EFFECTS
OF CHARLEY ON SATURDAY IN THE FORM OF SOME FEEDER BAND THROUGH OUR
ZONES. SO WE ARE STILL LIKELY TO HAVE A HIGH PROBABILITY OF RAIN
ALTHOUGH NOT COMPLETELY CONFIDENT OF THE LOCATION. AT PRESENT HAVE
PUT IT OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES. BEGINNING NEXT WEEK WE SHOULD HAVE
THE SURFACE RIDGE BACK OVER THE AREA. MORE IMPORTANT THE UPPER
RIDGE THAT HAS BEEN FORCING CHARLEY WEST SHOULD BE WELL IN PLACE
OVER OUR AREA AND WE SHOULD BE JUST A LITTLE BELOW CLIMATE ON THE
PROBABILITIES. AM DISREGARDING ANY POTENTIAL TROPICAL FEATURES
DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD.
&&
.MARINE...BETWEEN BONNIE AND CHARLEY WE ARE UP TO SMALL CRAFT ON THE
ATLANTIC SIDE. WILL STAY IN THIS SITUATION UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT
AND THEN SEE A DECREASE TO EXERCISE CAUTION SATURDAY. BY SATURDAY
NIGHT AND THEN THROUGH THE THE REST OF THE FORECAST WE SHOULD BE 15
KNOTS OR LESS.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...EVEN THOUGH WINDS AND DSI WILL REMAIN HIGH HUMIDITY
VALUES WILL REMAIN ABOVE THE 35 PERCENT THRESHOLD SO NO NEED FOR ANY
ADVISORIES.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
WEST PALM BEACH 81 90 80 90 / 50 70 50 30
FORT LAUDERDALE 82 90 79 90 / 50 70 50 30
MIAMI 80 90 79 90 / 50 70 50 30
NAPLES 76 90 76 88 / 70 100 70 30
&&
.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...HURRICANE WARNING FOR W COLLIER AND MAINLAND MONROE COUNTIES.
FLOOD WATCH ALL ZONES THROUGH FRIDAY.
INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WATCH GLADES AND HENDRY.
TROPICAL STORM WATCH LAKE OKEECHOBEE.
AM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ATLC WATERS.
GM...HURRICANE WARNING FOR GULF WATERS.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 446 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA FLZ067-068-071>074-130238- BROWARD METROPOLITAN-DADE METROPOLITAN-PALM BEACH EASTERN- PALM BEACH WESTERN-WESTERN BROWARD-WESTERN DADE- 446 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004 .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE FROM THE SOUTH OVER THE AREA TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY LATE. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BRING STRONG WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG WINDS WILL IMPACT THE AREA FRIDAY AS HURRICANE CHARLEY MOVES NORTH ALONG THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF FLORIDA. SEE THE HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT AT AFOS PIL MIAHLSMFL, OR WMO HEADER WTUS82 KMFL, FOR MORE INFORMATION. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND DETAILED GRAPHICS CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT MIAMIWEATHER.INFO. FOR INFORMATION IN SPANISH, VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT ELTIEMPOENMIAMI.INFO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THE WEATHER AND SELF ACTIVATE IF NEEDED. FLZ069-070-075-130238- EASTERN COLLIER-MAINLAND MONROE-WESTERN COLLIER- 446 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004 .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY ...HURRICANE WARNING SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST... ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT... HURRICANE CHARLEY WILL MOVE NORTH THROUGH THE GULF WATERS ALONG THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST ON FRIDAY. WEATHER WILL GRADUALLY DETERIORATE OVERNIGHT, WITH HEAVY RAINFALL, INCREASING WINDS, AND MORE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THERE MAY BE ISOLATED WEAK TORNADOES AFTER MIDNIGHT ASSOCIATED WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS, AS CHARLEY NEARS THE AREA. LOCALIZED FLOODING IS POSSIBLE AS WELL AS RAINFALL INCREASES. PREPARATIONS NEED TO BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION IN ADVANCE OF THIS HURRICANE. SEE THE HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT AT AFOS PIL MIAHLSMFL, OR WMO HEADER WTUS82 KMFL, FOR MORE INFORMATION. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND DETAILED GRAPHICS CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT MIAMIWEATHER.INFO. FOR INFORMATION IN SPANISH, VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT ELTIEMPOENMIAMI.INFO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY ON FRIDAY AS CHARLEY MOVES NORTH ALONG THE GULF COAST OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. FLZ063-066-130238- GLADES-HENDRY- 446 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004 .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY ...INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WATCH GLADES AND HENDRY COUNTIES... ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT... HURRICANE CHARLEY WILL MOVE NORTH THROUGH THE GULF WATERS ALONG THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST ON FRIDAY. SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS GLADES AND HENDRY COUNTIES AT AROUND NOON ON FRIDAY. FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE. THERE WILL ALSO BE A RISK FOR WEAK TORNADOES IN THE RAINBANDS OF CHARLEY. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND DETAILED GRAPHICS CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT MIAMIWEATHER.INFO. FOR INFORMATION IN SPANISH, VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT ELTIEMPOENMIAMI.INFO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY ON FRIDAY AS CHARLEY MOVES NORTH ALONG THE GULF COAST OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
1255 AM EDT FRI AUG 13 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1225 AM TSTM WND DMG CUTLER RIDGE 25.60N 80.36W
08/13/2004 MIAMI-DADE FL AMATEUR RADIO
CARPORT BLEW AWAY AT SW 120TH AVE AND 210TH TERRACE. WIND
GUST ESTIMATED BY TRAINED SPOTTER AT 50 MPH OR MORE.
&&
TWThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 hurricane (typhoon). Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2004The 2004 hurricane season
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5413247, 5413248, 5413249.