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All storm pages · 2004 Atlantic season

Hurricane Charley 2004

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 9 to August 14, 2004

Charley has landfall records in 3 different places: Cuba, Florida and South Carolina. It came ashore in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on August 13, 2004, with 150 mph winds. With a peak of 150 mph, it ranked the second-strongest of the 16 storms of the 2004 season. The name Charley is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Charley (2004) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°WOrlandoCuba, 120 mphFlorida, 150 mphSouth Carolina, 80 mphPeak 150 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Charley (2004) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 10Aug 11Aug 12Aug 13Aug 14Aug 15mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 120 miles south-southeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  2. Tropical storm 160 miles northwest of La Asunción, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela
  3. Hurricane 90 miles south-southwest of Port Morant, Saint Thomas, Jamaica
  4. Major hurricane 15 miles southeast of Artemisa, La Habana, Cuba
  5. Landfall Cuba: Category 3, 120 mph, 966 mb
  6. Peak 15 miles west of Cape Coral, Florida; lowest pressure 941 mb
  7. Landfall Florida
  8. Landfall Florida: Category 4, 145 mph, 942 mb
  9. Landfall South Carolina: Category 1, 80 mph, 992 mb
  10. Landfall South Carolina: Category 1, 75 mph, 997 mb
  11. No longer tropical (extratropical low) near Virginia Beach, Virginia
  12. Last record 25 miles south-southeast of Newport, Rhode Island

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind150 mph · tied 57th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure941 mb · tied 123rd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy10.6 · 491st of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone5.2 days · tied 827th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 2004 season

04080120160200Charley

Storm 3 of 16 in 2004, hurricane 2 of 9; it formed after Bonnie and before Danielle. Charley produced 5% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Sanford, Florida2 mi85 mphAugust 14
Port Charlotte, Florida3 mi140 mphAugust 13
Orlando, Florida3 mi85 mphAugust 14
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina4 mi75 mphAugust 14
Winter Haven, Florida6 mi90 mphAugust 13
San Antonio de los Baños, La Habana, Cuba6 mi120 mphAugust 13
Kissimmee, Florida7 mi85 mphAugust 14
Daytona Beach, Florida8 mi85 mphAugust 14

Every storm within 50 miles of Orlando, Florida

Similar landfalls in Florida

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Florida came closest to Charley's 150 mph:

All 229 storms with a landfall record in Florida

Also peaked at 150 mph

Of 27 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: