With the start of meteorological winter beginning December 1st, we are saying farewell to what a busy hurricane season was for 2024. While most of the Atlantic Ocean and coast of Africa remain quiet, portions of the Gulf of Mexico and the Central America regions had a busy and active start to the year. This year was a bit more active than the past few years, as there was a change in the water temperatures. Compared to the strong El Niño in 2023, forecasters predicted a La Niña, which leads to increasing favorable conditions.
It was record-breaking year for the 2024 hurricane season, as it was forecasted to remain active.(WITN)
Alberto was the first name on the list, and it came barreling toward Central Mexico as a tropical storm on June 19th and 20th. Within the next week and into the first week of July, Beryl formed in the Gulf of Mexico and became the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record in the Atlantic on July 1st, then strengthening to a Category 5 on July 2nd, making it the strongest July name storm to be in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Chris rounded out the month in June as it headed towards southern Mexico and fizzled on July 1st.
Once the July 4th holiday was upon, we went quiet, thanks to a lot of dry air and the Saharan dust from the coast of Africa. However, when entered the start of the peak season, Hurricane Debby moved into the Big Bend of Florida on August 5th in Steinhatchee, then weakened to a tropical storm as it traveled up the southeast before making its target to ENC later in the week. We saw impacts from Debby on August 8-9th, as it prompted nearly three dozen tornado warnings, with three in ENC confirmed, an EF-3 tornado near Lucama in Wilson County, an EF-2 Snow Hill in Greene County, and an EF-0 in Pender County near Maple Hill.
While the inland areas saw tornado reports, the coastal areas, unfortunately, saw high winds and rain, which caused a house to collapse in the Outer Banks. The remnants of Debby dumped up to 8 inches of rain in early August across the region and caused flooding issues in northern Duck, mainland Currituck, and Hatteras Island. The total storm damage cost racked up to 28 billion dollars and the death toll up to 10.
Number of hurricanes and tropical storms compared to average.(WITN)
After Debby’s impacts on the state, we were busy tracking Enersto and Francine in September, which Enersto was more of a fish storm and caused large swells along the beaches along the Eastern US. Francine was another hurricane that caused another billion-dollar damage to the Gulf Coast states with max winds at 100 mph, making it a category 2 storm when it made landfall in Morgan City, Louisiana. As time went on, we did get a brief break before another unnamed system developed outside of the Carolinas, Potential Tropical Cyclone #8. PTC #8 caused significant flooding along the coast of the Carolinas, as portions of Carolina Beach saw 12-20″ of rain, breaking all-time daily and monthly rainfall records. Gordon remained another fish storm as it caused more flooding but this time to portions of Spain and England.
Next up on the list was Helene, which was one of the most devastating storms to hit Western NC, right after several days of rain from previous fronts and summertime storms that amounted to historical levels of flooding, impacts to property, and unfortunately taking too many lives lost. Helene was the deadliest hurricane to affect the continental U.S. since Katrina in 2005, with more than 150 direct fatalities, as most occurred in both North and South Carolina. We also saw some impacts, as an EF-3 tornado hit Rock Mount with 140 miles per hour winds, causing damage to a Pfizer plant. 15 people were injured here in ENC from that storm.
While we had Issac, Jose, Kirk, and Leslie in the tropics, the next notable storm was Milton, which impacted Florida. It started as a low-end category 1 and became a major hurricane within a few days, reaching category 4-5 status in the Gulf of Mexico. Milton was a strong category 3 when it made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, about 5 miles west of Sarasota. That storm cost the state an estimated $50 billion in damage, leaving millions stranded in the dark for weeks. The death toll from Milton added up to 24 people.
Cost amount of the 2024 year came into second place with over 220 Billion Dollars(WITN)
After the impacts from Milton, Nadine remained in the Gulf of Mexico and headed towards Central America as a tropical storm and Oscar was a low-end category 1 storm as it made its way to southern Cuba and the Turks & Caicos at winds at 85 mph, leaving many in the dark around the week before Halloween. As we entered the end of the month and headed into November, the parade of storms never ended, as Patty, Rafael, and Sara formed. While Patty remained a fish storm, Rafael strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane before it made landfall in western Cuba in early November, then weakened to a Category 2. Sara was the last name we used this year on the list, as it became a tropical storm with max winds at 50 mph, as it headed towards Central America. Portions of Honduras and Belize saw several inches of rain and gusty winds as Sara was traveling across that region in mid-November.
Minus tracking storm names and death tolls this year, this season was the second costliest at $222 billion and counting. As more data and the price of the damage continue to come in, this hurricane season might be near the most expensive hurricane disaster if that happens. In the last five years, 2022 and 2021 came in the top five most expensive disasters, as those years were under $200 billion.
Stay tuned to WITN, witn.com, and the WITN First Alert Weather App for the latest information.
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Publish date : 2024-12-01 08:57:00
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