Track map & timeline · Atlantic · July 31 – August 6, 2004
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. During the replay the shaded rings show the storm’s wind field as analysed by NHC — 39+, 58+ and 74+ mph winds, quadrant by quadrant. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Hurricane Alex (2004) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic season. It formed on July 31, 2004, 180 mi ENE of Daytona Beach, Florida, reached its peak of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 957 mb on August 5, 2004, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 40 mph in 24 hours (to 98 mph on August 3, 2004). The storm lasted 6.0 days and travelled about 2,843 miles (4,574 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington, North Carolina | 74 mi | Aug 3 · 09:00 UTC | Cat 1 89 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1010 mb | 30.3°N 78.3°W | 180 mi ENE of Daytona Beach, Florida |
| Aug 1 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1009 mb | 31.0°N 78.8°W | 140 mi SSE of Charleston, South Carolina |
| Aug 1 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1009 mb | 31.5°N 79.0°W | 104 mi SSE of Charleston, South Carolina |
| Aug 1 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1009 mb | 31.6°N 79.1°W | 95 mi SSE of Charleston, South Carolina |
| Aug 1 18:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1009 mb | 31.6°N 79.2°W | 92 mi SSE of Charleston, South Carolina |
| Aug 2 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1007 mb | 31.5°N 79.3°W | 96 mi SSE of Charleston, South Carolina |
| Aug 2 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1005 mb | 31.4°N 79.4°W | 96 mi SE of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina |
| Aug 2 12:00 | TS | 58 mph | 992 mb | 31.3°N 79.0°W | 116 mi SSE of Charleston, South Carolina |
| Aug 2 18:00 | TS | 58 mph | 993 mb | 31.8°N 78.7°W | 97 mi SE of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina |
| Aug 3 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | 987 mb | 32.4°N 78.2°W | 98 mi SSE of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |
| Aug 3 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 983 mb | 33.0°N 77.4°W | 91 mi SSE of Wilmington, North Carolina |
| Aug 3 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 974 mb | 34.2°N 76.4°W | 55 mi SSE of Havelock, North Carolina |
| Aug 3 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 972 mb | 35.3°N 75.2°W | 91 mi SE of Elizabeth City, North Carolina |
| Aug 4 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 974 mb | 36.0°N 73.7°W | 140 mi ESE of Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| Aug 4 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 973 mb | 36.8°N 72.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 4 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 973 mb | 37.3°N 70.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 4 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 965 mb | 37.8°N 68.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 00:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 957 mb | 38.5°N 66.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 957 mb | 39.5°N 63.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 962 mb | 40.8°N 59.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 5 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 970 mb | 42.7°N 55.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 6 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 978 mb | 44.5°N 49.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 6 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 984 mb | 46.1°N 44.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 6 12:00 | TS | 58 mph | 987 mb | 47.0°N 37.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 6 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 992 mb | 47.4°N 32.7°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Alex. Its closest approach to a major city was 74 miles from Wilmington, North Carolina.
At its peak on August 5, 2004, Alex was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a central pressure of 957 mb.
6.0 days, from July 31, 2004 to August 6, 2004, including 78 hours at hurricane strength (18 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 2,843 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.
This archive is our own work, built from openly available data — the NOAA best-track records, the replay engine, the wind-field rendering and the map tiles served from our own servers in the European Union. If your business generates data — measurements, machines, orders, customers — we are happy to turn it into a clear, interactive interface.
But this is not all we build:
Or anything else that can be programmed — just get in touch.
See our work → or write: info@digitaldynamics.hu