Mar 27, 2024
Supercharged Atlantic Hurricane Season Looms With Record at Risk
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- The US should brace for an “explosive” hurricane season this year, with the potential for a record-breaking number of storms sweeping in from the Atlantic Ocean, according to AccuWeather Inc.
Early warning signs are pointing to a “supercharged” season, with as many as 25 named storms from June through November, according to the commercial forecaster. That would be well above a typical year, in which the Atlantic churns out an average 14 storms in the period. This coming season may deliver up to a dozen hurricanes, and as many as six storms could hammer the US.
“The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is forecast to feature well above the historical average number of tropical storms, hurricanes, major hurricanes, and direct US impacts,” Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather’s lead hurricane forecaster, said in a Wednesday statement. “All indications are pointing toward a very active and potentially explosive Atlantic hurricane season.”
There’s a 10% to 15% chance of 30 or more named storms this year. Surpassing that would break the record set in 2020, according to the firm. As many as seven storms this season may be classified as major hurricanes — Category 3 and above on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds of at least 111 miles an hour.
Atlantic storms can be destructive and potentially deadly, while also causing havoc to agriculture, energy and financial markets from the damage they cause. Tropical storms and hurricanes have caused nearly $1.4 trillion in damages and killed at least 6,897 people in the US, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Warm ocean waters fuel tropical storms and hurricanes and currently heat across a key part of the Atlantic is “off the chart,” said Jon Porter, AccuWeather’s chief meteorologist. “This is a very concerning development considering this part of the Atlantic Ocean is where more than 80% of storms form.”
Ocean temperatures in March rivaled 2005, when 28 named storms formed in the Atlantic — including Katrina — and in 2020, when 30 spun out of the basin to set the record for the season. A storm gets a name when its winds reach 39 mph, or tropical-storm strength.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
