In nearly unanimous agreement, experts thought the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1st to November 30, would be one for the record books. Atlantic Ocean temperatures were historically warm and La Nina was forecast to develop during the hurricane season. Coupled together, that could make for an historic hurricane season.
An average hurricane season produces 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. Several hurricane forecast providers published their predictions in the spring, with all of them expecting an above-normal hurricane season.
And they were right – the hurricane season was above-normal, even though La Nina still has not made an appearance. The Atlantic saw 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and 5 major hurricanes. North Carolina State University and the University of Arizona were the most accurate with their predictions of named storms. All of the providers we were tracking were spot on with the number of hurricanes predicted. Colorado State University and the University of Arizona accurately predicted the exact number of major hurricanes. The Atlantic seasonal activity fell within NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center’s predicted ranges as well, which is not surprising due to the large spread.
The season started with a bang in late June/early July with Category 5 Hurricane Beryl – the earliest Atlantic basin Category 5 hurricane on record. Although it was only a Category 1 when it made landfall in Texas, Beryl brought significant storm surge flooding across parts of Texas and Louisiana.
The middle of hurricane season featured a lull in activity. Several factors such as unusually warm air in the upper atmosphere, intense rains and winds over Western Africa, and Saharan dust created an environment that was less hospitable for storm development. This lull was the longest stretch without hurricane formation between August and September since 1968.
The Atlantic hurricane season typically peaks around September 10, and things definitely heated up after that. 12 named storms formed, with 7 hurricanes after September 25 – the most on record for that period.
Most notably, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 on the Florida Gulf Coast on September 26, causing catastrophic flooding across the southern Appalachians and widespread wind damage from the Gulf Coast to the North Carolina mountains. Preliminary data suggests Helene was the deadliest hurricane to affect the continental U.S. since Katrina in 2005 with more than 150 direct fatalities, most of which were in North and South Carolina. Helene marked the first time ever that NOAA’s National Hurricane Center forecasted a system to become a major hurricane before it became a tropical depression or tropical storm.
Hurricane Milton followed less than two weeks later, making landfall on October 9 as a Category 3 on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Milton produced 46 tornadoes and torrential rainfall. Its rate of rapid intensification was among the highest ever observed, with a 90mph increase in wind speed in just 24 hours.
Throughout the hurricane season, NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters collected and provided essential data to researchers and forecasters. They flew 67 missions, flew 392 mission hours, passed through 80 hurricane eyes, and deployed more than 1,246 scientific instruments.