Looking Back: The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season left a mark on the southeastern U.S. that will take years to recover from. 

18 named storms. 11 hurricanes. 5 Gulf Coast landfalls. 

An above average year was all but a certainty, with record setting ocean warmth and the eventual return of La Nina.  

“The impactful and deadly 2024 hurricane season started off intensely, then relaxed a bit before roaring back,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Several possible factors contributed to the peak season lull in the Atlantic region. The particularly intense winds and rains over Western Africa created an environment that was less hospitable for storm development.”

Twelve named storms formed after the climatological peak of the season in early September. Seven hurricanes formed in the Atlantic since September 25 — the most on record for this period. (Courtesy: NOAA)

Tropical storms Alberto and Chris quickly formed and fizzled into the gulf coast of Mexico, but the season will be remembered for the five systems that came ashore in the United States.

Hurricane Beryl became the first ever category 4 in the month of June, and the Atlantic's earliest category 5 on record. After heavily damaging Caribbean islands and the Yucatan, Beryl weakened before making landfall in Matagorda, Texas as a category 1 on July 8th. Localized rainfall amounts topped 15”.  At the height of the storm, 2.7 million customers in Texas were without power. The remnants of Beryl broke record for most tornado warnings issued in a day for multiple NWS offices across the country, including Shreveport and Lake Charles, Louisiana and as far north as Buffalo, New York! In all, Beryl did at least $7.2 billion dollars in damage in the U.S. And is attributed to 45 fatalities. 

After a quiet July, category 1 Hurricane Debby made landfall in the big bend of Florida in August, ringing flooding rain to the state’s nature coast. Parts of Manatee and Sarasota County measured nearly 20 inches of rainfall. Totals went on to be even higher farther north as Debby exited Georgia, and made a second landfall in Bulls Bay, South Carolina. As Debby crawled its way north, tornado reports went on for four straight days from South Carolina to Pennsylvania.   

Hurricane Ernesto rounded out August bringing destructive flooding to Puerto Rico. Before Francine became the third hurricane of 2024 to make landfall in the U.S., coming ashore in Terrebonne Parrish, Louisiana as a category 2 on September 11th. Close to a foot of rain fell in the greater New Orleans area. 

Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 spun up soon after, with just enough time to bring 20 inches of rainfall and flood the Carolina coast.  

Hurricane Helene was not only the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in Florida's big bend, but its torrential rains caused catastrophic damage in eight states. Hurricane Helene first made landfall 10 miles from Perry, Florida as a category four with winds of 140 mph. Cedar Key, Florida witnessed its highest storm surge on record, rising to at least ten feet. Helene’s fast movement spread hurricane force winds and tropical moisture north. Atlanta experienced its first ever flash flood emergency. The first of many in the southeast as southern Appalachia recorded nearly three feet of rain. Most of the mountain communities in western North Carolina were cut off.  Floods swept away entire communities, closed over 400 roads, and led to countless landslides. 

Less than two weeks later, battered and bruised, residents of Florida watched as Milton became a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. Milton not only rapidly intensified, it dramatically escalated into a category 5. Its central pressure dropping to a near record low. As Milton's outer bands started to come ashore, a tornado outbreak tore through Florida. Hurricane Milton then made landfall October 9th as a category three near Siesta Key, Florida with winds of 120 mph. Tropicana Field was supposed to house first responders and power crews. That changed when its roof was ripped to shreds.

As we look back on the 2024 season, we remember the lives lost and those who have lost everything.