Was Ivan a Category 4?

[Rainband]

Also ,Ivan never made a landfall before hitting the Gulfcoast, the surge was that much worse because of this reason as well..right??

[Derek Ortt]

Cuba would have broke up any long built up surge as it passed very close to the Cuban west coast

[SouthernWx]

While I don't believe Ivan was a cat-4 during landfall, I do believe it was a strong cat-3....sustained winds in the 125-130 mph (110 kt) range, gusting over 150 mph (130 kt) along the beachfronts in the eastern eyewall.

[dhweather]

Cuba would have broke up any long built up surge as it passed very close to the Cuban west coast

Exactly. Ivan did build another large surge in the open GOM, remember
the buoy reports of 55' waves? That's where all of the water/surge damage came from.

Had Ivan started weakening 6-12 hours earlier, the surge probably would
have been 2-4 feet lower. That makes a huge difference.

[Derek Ortt]

absolutely. Ivan built up that very large tidal surge, and that is much slower to decrease. Even Isabel produced about 12 feet of tidal surge at Hatteras, much of that remaining from its cat 5 days

[Brent]

Also ,Ivan never made a landfall before hitting the Gulfcoast, the surge was that much worse because of this reason as well..right??

LOL... I still laugh at the track after it weakened until it reformed again.