Hurricane Ivan: Five Years Ago

September 16-17 marks the five year anniversary of Hurricane Ivan, the strongest storm of the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Ivan made landfall in the early morning hours of September 16 at Gulf Shores, AL with 120mph winds (Cat 3). Ivan's remnants tracked toward the Commonwealth on the 17th, when 40 tornadoes were spawned in Virginia in a single day, including one strong F3 tornado. This holds the record for the most tornadoes in a single day in Virginia! This one day of tornadoes also broke the previous Virginia record for most tornadoes in an entire year: 31 tornadoes in 2003.

(NWS PHOTOS: F3 Tornado damage in southern Fauquier Co, VA)

Ivan's remnants then passed east of the Commonwealth into the Atlantic, taking an unusual turn southward (see track below). The remnants reorganized after passing southern Florida back into the Gulf, and made a second landfall in Cameron, Louisiana as Tropical Depression Ivan.

(Image: NASA & NHC)

Many of Virginia's tornadoes historically have come from tropical systems. Here is a list of Hurricanes spawning tornadoes in the Commonwealth (compiled by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management):

September 4, 1915: 1 small tornado
October 29, 1917 2 small tornadoes
September 5, 1935: 5-7 tornadoes; 3 dead, 21 injured
August 31, 1952 "Able": 1 strong F2 tornado
July 10, 1959 "Cindy": 3 small F0-F1 tornadoes
September 29, 1959 "Gracie": 3 strong F3 tornadoes; 12 dead, 13 injured
September 10, 1960 "Donna": 1 strong F2 tornado
September 5, 1979 "David": 8 tornadoes, 6 strong ones; 1 dead and 19 injured
July 25, 1985 "Bob": 2 small F0 tornadoes and 1 strong F3 tornado
August 17, 1994 "Beryl": 1 strong F2 tornado injuring 10 people
October 5, 1995 "Opal": 3 small F0-F1 tornadoes
July 12, 1996 "Bertha": 5 small F0-F1 tornadoes injuring 9 people
September 6, 1996 "Fran": 2 small F0 tornadoes
July 24, 1997 "Danny": 3 small F0-F1 tornadoes
September 4, 1999 "Dennis": 1 strong F2 tornado injuring 6 people
Sept. 18, 2003: "Isabel": spawned one F0 tornado
Aug. 30, 2004: “Gaston” spawned 13 F0 tornadoes
Sept. 8 2004: “Frances” spawned 16 F0/F1 tornadoes and one strong F2 tornado
Sept. 17, 2004: “Ivan” spawned 29 F0/F1 tornadoes, 10 strong F2 tornadoes and one strong F3 tornado
Sept. 28, 2004: “Jeanne” spawned one F1 tornado
July 7-8, 2005: “Cindy” spawned seven F1 tornadoes

We Need The Rain!

It's been very dry over the past two weeks. The majority of the area has seen less than one inch of rainfall.

Rivers and streams are running low, especially to the west of I-95.

Showers will be spotty and mainly light for today and tomorrow, so it doesn't look like we will get that much rain. A larger storm system is headed this way for next week and could potentially bring us more substantial rainfall. Let's keep our fingers crossed!