The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season ended Saturday with 11 hurricanes, compared to an average of seven, and a season that saw death and destruction hundreds of miles from the storms’ landfall sites on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Finished.
Meteorologists called this an “unusually busy” season, due in part to unusually high ocean temperatures. Eight hurricanes made landfall in the United States, Bermuda, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Grenada.
Here are some of the things that made the 2024 season stand out.
Hurricane Beryl became the first Category 4 hurricane on record in June, hitting Grenada’s Carriacou Island. In Jamaica, crops and homes were destroyed and two people were killed. Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, said the last time a Category 4 hurricane hit the island was Dean in 2007, which is “pretty unusual.” The storm then intensified, becoming the earliest Category 5 hurricane in Atlantic history on July 1st. According to the National Hurricane Center, major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher are typically not seen until September 1st.
In September, Hurricane Helen devastated the southeastern United States, becoming the worst storm to hit the continental United States since Katrina in 2005. More than 200 people died. North Carolina estimates the storm caused at least $48.8 billion in direct and indirect damage, destroying homes, drinking water systems, farms and forests. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia were also severely damaged.
In October, Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified, reaching maximum wind speeds of 180 miles per hour, making it one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. The only strong one by that standard was Hurricane Rita in 2005.
In the areas affected by Helen and Milton, rainfall was three times higher than normal during September and October, the heart of the Atlantic hurricane season. The past two months have been the wettest on record for Asheville, Tampa and Orlando.
In November, Hurricane Rafael reached 190 miles per hour, making it almost the strongest November hurricane on record in the Gulf of Mexico, matching Hurricane Kate in 1985. Hurricane Oscar in October.
Hurricane season and climate change
Globally warming gases such as carbon dioxide and methane emitted by transportation and industry are causing rapid warming of the oceans. Several factors play a role in hurricane formation, but because the ocean is unusually warm, hurricanes can form and intensify in places and times we wouldn’t normally expect, McNoldy said. .
“In other words, we’ve never had a storm as strong as Beryl early in the season anywhere in the Atlantic, and we’ve never had a storm as strong as Milton late in the season in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.
“I would never point out that climate change causes any particular weather event, but climate change is certainly pinpointing its magnitude and increasing the likelihood of extreme storms like this occurring. ” said McNoldy.
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