Record breaking Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end

Now that November has ended, so has the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which ran from June 1 to Nov. 30.

In total, there were a total of 18 named storms in the Atlantic during this active hurricane season.

Eleven of those became hurricanes, with five reaching major hurricane status, meaning Category 3 or higher.

In an average hurricane season, typically, there are 14 named systems, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane to ever develop in the Atlantic. While it did weaken some, Beryl brought flooding and storm surge to both Louisiana and Texas.

After an active start, there was a lull in activity during the summertime months. “This is typically when we see activity begin to ramp up; however, we didn’t see things really pick up until late September,” said Weather Authority meteorologist Lauren Kreidler.

On Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with 140-mile-per-hour winds.

According to NOAA, preliminary data shows that Helene was the deadliest hurricane to impact the United States since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Helene resulted in over 150 casualties, most of which occurred in the Carolinas.

Southwest Florida experienced its own impacts from Helene, including gusty winds and feet of storm surge.

Then, Hurricane Milton made landfall along Siesta Key less than two weeks after Helene.

Hurricane Milton peaked as a Category 5 storm with 180-mile-per-hour winds and then weakened into a powerful Category 3 hurricane before making landfall with 120-mile-per-hour winds.

Aside from the heavy rain, strong winds, and storm surge that Southwest Florida experienced, a tornado outbreak across South Florida resulted in a whopping 46 tornadoes.

In October, Hurricane Milton formed, and for the first time in Atlantic basin history, three hurricanes, including Milton, Kirk and Leslie, were active simultaneously. Both Kirk and Leslie stayed far away from the United States.

November is the month when storm activity significantly decreases. Only 8% of hurricanes form during the month of November.

Late in the season, Hurricane Rafael formed and made landfall in Cuba as a major Category 3 hurricane on Nov. 6.

The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane season was definitely a “bottom heavy” season. Twelve named storms developed after the peak of hurricane season, Sept. 10. Seven hurricanes developed after Sept. 25, allowing for the most hurricanes on record during this time period.

Southwest Florida’s resilience shined through the hardest days of hurricane season. We do our best by coming together and showing how strong this community is.

Now that hurricane season is officially over, let’s enjoy those upcoming cold fronts!