Hurricane Ivan

http://www.hurricanetrack.com
This chapter from our 2004 DVD captures powerful hurricane Ivan as we observed it in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The back story is that we had taken our Green Isuzu Rodeo, the first "chase vehicle" of ours, and turned it in to a bright yellow un-manned drone. The idea was to put it in a big hurricane, loaded with weather instruments and cameras, and allow it to record the worst while we went somewhere far safer. The Isuszu has been through many hurricanes and tropical storms in its six years of use but Ivan would be its last mission. The project was a success and led to our work in subsquent years in hurricanes such as Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Ike.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• hurricane
• weather
• ivan
• storm surge
• storm chaser
• mark sudduth
• gulf shores
• alabama
• 2004
• katrina
• gulf coast

[elekktrode]

Was that lightning at 15:23?? I had no idea Ivan had lightning associated with it

[hurricanetrack]

@elekktrode Some of it is lightning but mostly you are seeing the glow of powerlines arcing or transformers exploding. It is rare to have lightning in a hurricane- usually it is confined to the most intense convection or thunderstorms.

[AMLJ37]

How far did the isuzu "travelled" from the place where you left it?

[hurricanetrack]

@AMLJ37 About a block. It would have gone farther but it got stuck on a light pole on the north side oh Hwy 182.

[archelleta]

is there any way i can save this video?

[hurricanetrack]

Not off of YouTube. We do sell our 2004 DVD which chronicles Ivan and the other events of the 2004 hurricane season. I would recommend you consider buying the DVD from our web site. I think you would find it a worthwhile purchase.

[archelleta]

thanks i think i'll buy it...2004 was a memorable year for me. I live in AL and 2004 started my interest in hurricanes

[inuyashafan64]

Ah hurricane ivan also known to me as the boomerang storm!

[theKennyHalt]

I remember being in elementary school in Pittsburgh and looking out the window and it was raining so hard but I remember getting home and i lived at a bottom of a hill and going down in to my basement and having it flooded 3 feet deep. But thats nothing compared to what people down in Florida got.

[miszkendra01]

i was all into the footage, and, the transition at 13:17 scared me. :(

[DennyRec]

I was caught in Ivan it was unreal how long it lasted, and the damaged it caused. Yes people are hired to track them. We to have two things in mind, staying safe and getting the news out.

[IhOsTt]

I live in gulf shores and i remember ivan! It was terriable.

[1022gamma]

we got hit in pensacola. we had blue roofs for five years. katrina and ike didnt help either

[heelsfan33]

I'm a power lineman from N.C. i was in gulf shores Ala.the day after to help put power back on.We were there for 2 months because ivan took all poles and lines and threw them in the ocean.Plus the storm surge was so high it wiped out a substation completely was nothin left but a big square fence.But after 2 months we got all power on and the people of gulf shores treated us very good

[MrXtremeBiohazard]

i actually live in Foley which is the next city right above Gulf Shores, i go fishing and to the beach alot, it is gorgous here and has the best beaches ive ever been too, the sand is the best you will see out of almost everwhere you go. We have alot of fun out there and we got caught out in a storm the other day and boy do those waves get big,but to we went out and were riding huge ground sweels, those are so fun to ride, but you cant forgot the huge red snapper here, so much fun here

[smpcracker]

I'm from Grand Cayman :(

[GeorgiaGuyjlk]

This is really upsetting for me to see , I was living in Gulf shores about 3 blocks from were this was being shot, At teh time i was working at Hooter's which faced The gulf, The day before while at work , I had thsi funny feeling That woudl never stand in this same location again ,Scarry how right i was