Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 31, 2017
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The meteorological history of Hurricane Ivan (2004) spans 26 days, the tenth longest storm duration of any Atlantic hurricane on record. The tropical cyclone developed on August 31 from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa. Tracking westward due to a ridge, it developed into Tropical Depression Nine on September 2, gradually intensifying until September 5, when it underwent rapid deepening and reached Category 4 status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. At the time Ivan was the southernmost major North Atlantic hurricane on record. It was weakened by dry air but gradually reorganized, passing just south of Grenada as a major hurricane on September 7. The hurricane attained Category 5 status in the central Caribbean Sea, and passed just south of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and western Cuba with winds at or slightly below that. Ivan gradually weakened before making landfall just west of Gulf Shores, Alabama, on September 16 with winds of 120 mph (195 km/h). After weakening, crossing Florida, restrengthening, and making another landfall in Louisiana, its circulation dissipated in Texas on September 25. (Full article...)