2004 Atlantic hurricane season - Kiewii

The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was an active North Atlantic tropical cyclone season when 21 named storms formed. The fatality numbers reached 693, the highest since 1999. The tropical cyclones in the season also caused major damages, accounting to $22 billion, the highest since 1992. Sea surface temperatures in 2004 were very high, causing increased activity. During August and September, 26&deg;C waters reached as far north as Newfoundland and the British Isles.

2004 was known by meteorologists as the 'Cape Verde year', stating that many of the storms in the season formed near Cape Verde. Hurricane Danielle was the most fatal this year, after killing 19 people in Jamaica and then 53 people in Mexico. There were two hurricanes that made landfall on the United States this year, Bonnie and Ivan.

During 2004, the Atlantic Ocean was monitored officially by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), providing six-hourly updates on tropical cyclones.

Tropical Storm Alex
On June 23, the NHC noted an area of small thunderstorms in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and gave it a 20% chance of formation. The thunderstorm activity gradually increased in organisation and was given a high chance at 1800 UTC on June 24. It is estimated that a tropical depression formed on June 25 at 0600 UTC. A Hurricane Hunters aircraft found 50 mph winds near the center of the storm, therefore the NHC upgraded Tropical Depression One to Tropical Storm Alex, the first of the season. Alex attained peak intensity with winds of 70 mph near 0000 UTC on June 26. The NHC estimates that the storm made landfall southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana with winds of 55 mph at about 2230 UTC on June 26. Alex continued inland and dissipated the next day.

Storm names
The following names were used for named storms that formed in the Atlantic basin in 2004. The names not retired from this list will be used again in the 2010 season. This is the same list used for the 1998 season except for Gaston and Matthew, which replaced Georges and Mitch. Storms were named Gaston, Matthew, Otto, Paula, Richard and Shary for the first time in 2004. Names that were not assigned are marked in.

Retirement
The World Meteorological Organization retired four names in the spring of 2005: Bonnie, Danielle and Gaston. They were replaced in 2010 by Bea, Daria and Galvin.