The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season was another for the record books, unfortunately. Before we get into the storms and impacts of this year, let's take a look back at the forecast.
The Forecast
The National Hurricane Center's official Atlantic basin forecast called for 17-25 named storms (at least tropical storm strength), 8-13 hurricanes (at least Category 1 strength), and 4-7 major hurricanes (at least Category 3 strength). To put the forecast into perspective, the climatological average for each of these is 14, 7, and 3 respectively. A hyper-active season was expected by nearly all tropical forecasting entities.
The Outcome
With the start of Meteorological Winter yesterday, the end of the hurricane season has come. The official season runs from June 1st to November 30th each year, but storms can and do form before and after these dates. The National Hurricane Center forecast verified quite well with a total of 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and 5 major hurricanes observed.
A few quick stats:
The first system formed June 19th, and the last system dissipated on November 18th.
Caused over $220 billion in damages.
Resulted in over 400 deaths.
12 systems made landfall in Central and/or North America
Hurricane Milton was the strongest of the Atlantic season, and worldwide this year, with preliminary maximum sustained winds of 180mph and a minimum central pressure of 897mb
Below is an image of all of the tropical tracks from this year:
Record Breakers
Many records were broken this hurricane season. Here are a few of the most prominent:
Beryl became the earliest Atlantic Category 4 and 5 major hurricane to develop, and was only the 2nd Category 5 recorded in July ever
Beryl became the strongest June and July hurricane
Oscar possessed the smallest hurricane-force wind field on record in the Atlantic
Rafael tied Hurricane Kate's 1985 record for the strongest November hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico
Leslie, Milton, and Kirk became the first trio of active hurricanes in the Atlantic after September
Milton became the second-most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico and the fifth-most intense in the Atlantic
7 hurricanes formed after September 25, the most on record
2nd costliest hurricane season on record
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