Ag Weather Forum
2024 Hurricane Season was Hyperactive, Devastating, Deadly
The 2024 hurricane season is over and it was a historic one. This year's Atlantic hurricane season had 18 named tropical systems and 11 hurricanes, with five reaching major hurricane status (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale).
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) noted in the agency's November 2024 U.S. climate report that the 2024 hurricane season "will be one of the costliest seasons on record once a full evaluation of estimated cost has concluded." The hurricane numbers are all above average. Meteorologist Dr. Jeff Masters of the Yale Climate Connection observed, "An average (hurricane) season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes."
Hurricanes which made landfall in the continental U.S. during 2024 were: Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene and Milton. Beryl and Milton both reached Category 5 status -- making 2024 the first season since 2019 with two Category 5 hurricanes. Beryl was the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane of the 2024 season, hitting Grenada on July 1 with Category 4 winds of 150 miles per hour. The strongest hurricane was Milton, which peaked on Oct. 7 in the Gulf of Mexico with 180 mph winds and a central pressure of 897 millibars. Milton was the fifth strongest Atlantic hurricane on record by pressure and sixth strongest by winds.
Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in the Florida Big Bend region Sept. 26, was the season's deadliest and most destructive hurricane. Helene hit the mainland United States as a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds. The death toll due to Helene numbers at least 243 people across seven states. That number makes Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 killed an estimated 1,392 people. Helene also produced catastrophic flood damage in the southern Appalachians, with the final damage tally likely to make Helene one of the top 10 most expensive hurricanes on record.
According to Wikipedia, total damage from the 18 named tropical systems is estimated at more than $220 billion. The death toll is 375, with another 25 deaths due to indirect causes related to the storms.
The 2024 hurricane season qualifies as hyperactive because of the total energy in the storms. The Yale Climate Connection's Jeff Masters notes "The season's accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) reached 162 (33% above average), which officially qualifies 2024 as a hyperactive season, according to the definition used by the Colorado State University seasonal forecast group -- and that's in spite of a month-long pause in activity at the climatological peak of hurricane season."
That hyperactive energy was evident in the powerful winds of the 2024 hurricane season. And an attribution study by Climate Central places the source of that loaded-up energy as the influence of global warming-related climate change. Using peer-reviewed research, the Climate Central study finds that in the 2024 hurricane season, "all 11 hurricanes in 2024 (as of Nov. 10) intensified by 9-28 mph during the record-breaking ocean warmth of the 2024 hurricane season, strengthening over waters made as much as 2.5 (degrees) F warmer because of climate change. Climate change made elevated sea surface temperatures (SST) in the tracks of 2024 hurricanes up to 800 times more likely. Human-warmed ocean temperatures made major hurricanes Helene and Milton even stronger, adding 16 mph and 23 mph, respectively."
A remarkable aspect of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was a quiet stretch in late August and early September, the longest quiet period since 1968. This period of non-activity had several causes, according to analysis by Allianz Insurance: a northward-shifted monsoon trough in Africa, which produced flooding rains over the Sahara Desert instead of thunderstorm clusters on the west Africa coast which become the "seeds" of tropical storms and hurricanes; a period of very dry, dusty air over west Africa, which suppressed tropical system formation; and a delay in La Nina development. La Nina leads to a decrease in upper-level wind shear in the tropics, which favors hurricane formation. However, neutral El Nino conditions were still present even into late October; and finally, it was very warm in the upper atmosphere over the tropics, which created more stable atmospheric conditions and inhibited the strengthening of thunderstorms into tropical systems.
We do not know how this year's hurricane season would have played out without that month-long quiet period. Even so, 2024 joins the parade of record, heat-fueled hurricane activity, with destruction totals to underline the impact.
Yale Climate Connection hurricane coverage is available here: https://yaleclimateconnections.org/…
The full Climate Central report on climate change influence in hurricane intensity is available here: https://www.climatecentral.org/…
DTN coverage of farm damage from Hurricane Helene is available here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…
Bryce Anderson can be reached at bryce.anderson@dtn.com
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