Hurricane Sally makes landfall in same place on same day as Ivan did 16 years ago

ORLANDO. Fla. – They say history repeats itself, but this is just crazy.

Hurricane Sally officially made landfall at 5:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 16 as a Category 2 storm in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Sally made landfall on the 16 year anniversary of Hurricane Ivan, a Category 3 hurricane that also came ashore in Gulf Shores. Ivan officially made landfall at 3 a.m. Heavy rain and strong winds battered the Panhandle of Florida, the third of four storms to impact the Sunshine State that year.

Ivan at one time was an extremely powerful Category 5 storm as it moved through the Caribbean. Ivan famously made a loop-the-loop after emerging back into the Atlantic, impacting South Florida as a much weaker system.

Ivan re-intensified into a tropical storm again before affecting Texas and Louisiana.