The 2024 Hurricane Season came to an end over the weekend and forecasters are calling it “above average activity.”
NOAA says eighteen tropical depressions formed, and all of them were named storms. Eleven storms became hurricanes, of which five strengthened into major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). Of those storms, five made landfall in the continental U.S., with two making landfall as major hurricanes.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season had its slowest start since 2014. The season’s first named storm, Tropical Storm Alberto, formed in the western Gulf on June 19, making landfall in Mexico the following day. Next was Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Atlantic basin Category-5 hurricane on record in a season and the strongest June and July hurricane on record in the basin. Beryl affected parts of the Caribbean, the Yucatán Peninsula, and the Texas Coast, causing moderate storm surge flooding across parts of Texas and Louisiana after making landfall near Matagorda on July 8 as a Category-1 storm. Beryl did its heaviest damage in the Houston area where 42 people died, 3 million were without power for days, and more than $3.5 billion in property damage was done in Harris, Fort Bend, and Brazoria counties. Several small tornadoes also went across East Texas. After Beryl dissipated on July 11, the Atlantic basin would fall under a period of inactivity due to the Saharan air layer, which suppresses tropical activity.
After nearly three weeks of inactivity, the longest in over fifty years at that point in the season according to NOAA, Hurricane Francine formed on Sept. 9, making landfall in Louisiana as a Category 2 system on Sept. 11. Four systems developed during the final week of September, starting with Hurricane Helene on September 24.
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Cat 4 storm on the Florida Gulf Coast on Sept. 26. The storm caused catastrophic flooding across the southern Appalachians, widespread wind damage from the Gulf Coast to the North Carolina mountains and storm surge flooding along portions of western Florida. Preliminary data indicate that Helene was the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Big Bend region of Florida, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Maria in 2017 and the deadliest hurricane to affect the continental United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with more than 150 direct fatalities, the majority of which occurred in North Carolina and South Carolina. Hurricane Helene marked the first time ever that NHC forecasted a system to become a major hurricane before it became a tropical depression or tropical storm.
Early October saw the formations of Hurricanes Leslie and Milton, which, along with Kirk, marked the first time on record that there were three simultaneously active hurricanes in the Atlantic basin after September. Hurricane Milton notably underwent explosive rapid intensification within the Gulf of Mexico to become the second Category 5 hurricane of the season, making 2024 the first Atlantic hurricane season since 2019 to feature multiple Category 5 hurricanes. Milton made landfall on the west coast of Florida on Oct. 9, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the state’s Big Bend region, resulting in a tornado outbreak that produced 19 tornadoes, and caused torrential rainfall and localized flooding with total rainfall amounts of 10 to 15 inches (and higher). Milton became the first Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma to reach a pressure below 900 mb (26.58 inHg) and the second-most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico, only after Hurricane Rita. The thirteenth named storm, ninth hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Milton was the strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2024.
Below are the names for the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane names
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