SEPTEMBER 16th – Alabama Hurricane History

September 16 occupies a truly remarkable place in Alabama hurricane history. On that same date, just 16 years apart, two powerful hurricanes made landfall along virtually the same stretch of the Alabama Gulf Coast. Hurricane Ivan roared ashore just west of Gulf Shores during the predawn hours of September 16, 2004. Then, on September 16, 2020, Hurricane Sally made landfall directly at Gulf Shores. The coincidence is extraordinary: two destructive hurricanes, on precisely the same calendar date, striking near the same community before sunrise.

Ivan was one of the most formidable and fascinating Atlantic hurricanes on record. The classic long-track Cape Verde hurricane developed on September 2, 2004, and traveled thousands of miles across the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean. Along the way, Ivan reached Category 5 intensity on three separate occasions, with maximum sustained winds peaking at 165 mph. The hurricane passed dangerously close to Grenada and Jamaica, crossed the Cayman Islands, and moved through the Yucatán Channel before entering the Gulf of Mexico. Ivan finally made landfall at approximately 1:50 a.m. CDT on September 16, just west of Gulf Shores, as a powerful Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph (nearly Cat 4) and a central pressure of 943 millibars.

Ivan produced catastrophic wind and storm-surge damage across Baldwin County and the western Florida Panhandle. Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Perdido Key and the Pensacola area were hit especially hard, while severe damage extended well inland. The hurricane destroyed buildings, washed out roads and bridges, heavily damaged the Gulf State Park Pier and caused widespread, long-lasting power outages. Ivan also generated an enormous wave field over the Gulf, including a wave measured at more than 90 feet by an offshore sensor. Its remnants produced flooding and a prolific tornado outbreak across portions of the eastern United States.

Even after its initial destruction, Ivan’s story was not finished. Its remnants moved across the Southeast, emerged over the Atlantic, turned southward, crossed Florida and returned to the Gulf of Mexico. The circulation then regenerated into a tropical cyclone—still retaining the name Ivan—before making one final landfall in southwestern Louisiana on September 24. Few hurricanes have ever completed such an unusual journey. From its beginnings near Africa to its final demise over the United States, Ivan lasted more than three weeks and left a path of destruction across the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast.

Sixteen years later, Hurricane Sally arrived at almost exactly the same location. Sally made landfall at Gulf Shores around 5:00 a.m. CDT on September 16, 2020, as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Unlike the fast-moving Ivan, Sally crawled toward the coast at less than 5 mph, subjecting coastal Alabama and northwest Florida to hour after hour of hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and rising water. Rainfall totals of 15 to 30 inches inundated portions of Baldwin County and the western Florida Panhandle, producing devastating flash flooding and major river flooding. Storm-surge inundation reached an estimated 7 to 9 feet above ground level in portions of the back bays and sounds. Trees and power lines were downed across the region, homes and businesses were flooded or badly damaged, boats were tossed ashore, and the newly rebuilt section of the Three Mile Bridge across Pensacola Bay was knocked out by runaway construction barges. Sally proved that a hurricane does not have to be a Category 3, 4 or 5 to produce catastrophic consequences—especially when it slows to a crawl over a vulnerable coastline.

SEPTEMBER 16th – Alabama Hurricane History

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