Good-bye to a frightening hurricane season

 

Hurricane Beryl near peak intensity (Source: NOAA)

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially comes to a close on Saturday, November 30, and will finish as a busier than average season. There were a total of 18 tropical storms, of which 11 became hurricanes with 5 major hurricanes. That surpassed NOAA’s seasonal average of 14 tropical storms, 7 hurricanes with 3 major hurricanes. 

A “major” hurricane is considered a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. Several hurricanes stand out this season for being both intense, destructive and deadly.

Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record when it reached peak intensity on July 2. It’s sustained winds were 165 mph with a minimum central air pressure of 934 millibars (mb), compared to the standard sea level air pressure of approximately 1013 mb. Fortunately, Beryl weakened below Category 5 intensity before making landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and made its final landfall as a minimal, Category 1 hurricane in Texas on July 8.

Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26 as a Category 4 storm along the Florida peninsula (with 140 mph sustained winds and a minimum central air pressure of 938 mb). Although damage was substantial along the Gulf Coast, Helene’s remnants brought widespread and devastating flooding to areas well inland, particularly in the Carolinas and parts of Georgia and Tennessee. Over 200 confirmed fatalities have been reported to NOAA, making it the deadliest hurricane in the United States since Katrina in 2005.

Hurricane Milton developed in the western Gulf of Mexico in early October and quickly became the second Category 5 hurricane of the season with peak sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 897 mb. Milton’s peak winds are tied with notorious Atlantic hurricanes, Mitch (1998), Rita (2005), and Irma (2017), for third highest on record. Milton’s minimum central air pressure of 897 mb is the fifth lowest for an Atlantic hurricane behind only Wilma (2005), Gilbert (1988), “Labor Day (1935),” and Rita (2005). It also made 2024 one of only several seasons with two or more Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes.

Fortunately, by the time Milton made landfall on October 9 along Florida’s Gulf Coast, it weakened to Category 3 intensity. Nevertheless, Milton was a destructive and deadly storm that spawned a relatively high number of tornadoes across the state of Florida.

It will take some time to formulate final casualty and damage assessments for the storms that impacted the United States. However, it’s safe to say that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was both active and deadly and won’t soon be forgotten.