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Hurricane Beryl, July 2024 (Source: NOAA) |
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had a lot to discuss at their recent spring conference given how active the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was. The WMO Hurricane Committee announced the retirement of three names from last season. There will never be another Atlantic storm with the names Beryl, Helene or Milton. Hurricane names are retired for being deadly or very destructive storms.
Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic and
had major impacts in the Caribbean last summer. Like Beryl, Helene and Milton
were also major hurricanes. However, these hurricanes had catastrophic impacts
in the United States.
Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm along the U.S. Gulf Coast and caused
devastating flooding as far north as North Carolina and Tennessee. With a death
toll of over 200, Helene was the deadliest hurricane in the United States since
Katrina in 2005.
Hurricane Milton developed in the Gulf of Mexico early last October and quickly intensified. At peak intensity, Milton was a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 895 millibars. It finished tied with 2005’s Hurricane Rita for fourth strongest Atlantic hurricane and strongest in the Gulf of Mexico, according to NOAA. Fortunately, Milton weakened to Category 3 status by the time it made landfall on Florida’s West Coast. However, widespread damage occurred with dozens of reported fatalities.
When the 2024 list of Atlantic hurricane names is reused in 2030, the names “Brianna,” “Holly,” and “Miguel” will replace “Beryl,” “Helene,” and “Milton.” The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was the ninth consecutive busier than average Atlantic hurricane season.