Hurricane Milton (2024)

Storm Active: October 5-11

Around the end of September, a tropical wave moving through the Caribbean interacted with a broad area of rotation over central America to produce a large area of disturbed weather. This disturbance moved northwest into the Bay of Campeche over the next couple of days. After that, it remained mostly stationary just off the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico. On October 4, the system suddenly coalesced quickly around a nascent center of circulation. The next morning, it was designated Tropical Depression Fourteen.

The depression had low shear and warm water to work with and quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Milton during the afternoon of the 5th. The system was rather small at first, but this allowed it to ramp up quickly, especially once an inner core became established early on October 6. Milton rapidly intensified into a hurricane that day. The system embarked on an unusual motion just south of east across the Gulf of Mexico. Overnight, the storm began a historic burst of strengthening. At 0900 UTC on October 7, the storm was upgraded to a category 2. Just two hours later it became a major hurricane, and after another two hours, a strong category 4. A little before 1600 UTC, it reached category 5 intensity. At 0000 UTC October 8, peaked at a historic intensity of 180 mph sustained winds and a central pressure of 897 mb. This was the lowest pressure recorded in an Atlantic hurricane since 2005 and made Milton the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record by minimum pressure. The cyclone's ascent from tropical depression to category 5 hurricane took 49 hours, the fastest such a feat had ever been observed.

The storm remained incredibly compact throughout this explosion of intensification. A small but very symmetric eye had first appeared the morning of the 7th, and it contracted further after Milton reached category 5 strength until it was under 5 miles in diameter by that evening. The center was surrounded by an area of exceptionally cold cloud tops, the likes of which are seldom seen in the Atlantic basin. The storm's heading took it eastward across the Gulf just north of the Yucatan peninsula, and close enough to bring tropical storm conditions to the northern coastline. Overnight, Milton underwent an eyewall replacement cycle as the tiny eye filled in and the original eyewall was slowly replaced by a secondary larger one. This caused the storm's maximum winds to weaken back to category 4 and minimum pressure to rise temporarily, but it did expand the area of hurricane force winds.

The system recovered well on October 8 though and regained category 5 strength during the afternoon. By that time, Milton was on a faster east-northeastward path toward the central coast of western Florida. It reached an impressive secondary peak intensity of 165 mph winds and a minimum pressure of 902 mb that evening. Fortunately, shear began to increase quickly after that time and the cyclone weakened fairly rapidly from that point. It was down to a category 4 by early on the 9th, and became increasingly disheveled on satellite imagery. Nevertheless, Milton was still at category 3 strength when it made landfall in Florida that evening. The storm's days as a powerful hurricane led to significant storm surge impact, and its quick movement brought wind damage across a swath of the state. Milton was still a category 1 hurricane when it emerged on the Atlantic side of Florida early on October 10. By that time, the storm was interacting with a frontal zone and losing tropical characteristics. It became post-tropical early that evening and continued to gradually spin down as it pushed generally eastward out to sea.

The image above shows Milton near peak intensity on October 7. The cyclone exhibited a "pinhole eye" of only 5 miles across, a feature common for the Atlantic's top few strongest hurricanes. Milton's lowest pressure reading of 897 mb was the lowest observed in the Atlantic for 19 years.

Milton achieved category 5 status twice en route to a category 3 landfall in Florida.

Hurricane Leslie (2024)

Storm Active: October 2-

Near the end of September, a late season tropical wave entered the Atlantic, cruising slowly westward at a low latitude. The disturbance was dwarfed by the strengthening Tropical Storm (and soon Hurricane) Kirk to its northwest, but it still managed to steadily organize and become Tropical Depression Thirteen on October 2. The cyclone had plenty of moisture to work with, but was buffeted by the outflow of Kirk for another few days, so its intensification was gradual. Nevertheless, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Leslie that night and continued to improve its satellite presentation over the coming days.

The storm found a pocket of conditions favorable enough to reach hurricane strength late on October 4. Leslie surpassed nearby Kirk and again set the mark for easternmost formation of a hurricane in the tropical Atlantic post-September, at a longitude of 34.2° W, further evidence of the anomalous warmth of the Atlantic basin. Leslie turned west-northwest and then northwest over the next couple of days and encountered some mid-level try air. It had some success battling off this dry air intrusion for a time, and managed to intensify a bit more on October 6, reaching its first peak intensity of 90 mph winds and a pressure of 982 mb.

The next day, Leslie's structure began to slowly degrade. Although the storm was still producing very deep convection, the core became more lopsided and the maximum winds decreased. The system was downgraded to a tropical storm early on October 8. It rebuilt its eyewall and made a comeback later in the day however, regaining hurricane status. Leslie remained surprisingly resilient and deepened more on October 9. Its eye partially cleared out and it beat its previous strength mark that evening, reaching a new peak intensity as a category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds and a central pressure of 972 mb.

Upper-level winds from a disturbance to the storm's west increased markedly over Leslie on the 10th, however. This initiated rapid weakening, an the storm also began curving north and then northeast out to sea. By October 11, the cyclone was down to moderate tropical storm strength and was producing convection only sporadically.

As of 5:00pm EDT on October 11, 2024, Hurricane Leslie had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, a central pressure of 1000 mb, and was moving northeast at 17 mph. For more up-to-date information and the latest watches and warnings, please consult the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Kirk (2024)

Storm Active: September 29-October 7

Around September 25, a large tropical wave entered the Atlantic. After passing through the Cape Verde islands, the disturbance began more organized; it was classified Tropical Depression Twelve on September 29. The next day, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Kirk. The storm was moving west at first, but soon began to arc very gradually toward the north. Kirk was a sprawling storm and was a little disheveled on satellite imagery due to some wind shear, but it nevertheless intensified steadily. On October 1, it became a hurricane. Kirk was located at 40.1° W when it reached hurricane strength, far surpassing the previous record easternmost tropical Atlantic hurricane formation in October (a record previously shared by Jose of 1999 and Tammy of 2023). That record stood for all of three days until it was again far surpassed by Hurricane Leslie.

Kirk didn't stop there, however. The large hurricane deepened much further over the following days, especially during a rapid burst of intensification beginning on the evening of October 2, when the eye quickly cleared on satellite imagery and became a major hurricane. The following afternoon, it reached category 4, and late on October 3, Kirk achieved a powerful peak intensity of 145 mph winds and a central pressure of 934 mb. The next day, the storm's steady northwest heading brought it into an area of higher shear from an upper-level low to the northwest. A gradual weakening trend began. The storm turned north and began to accelerate as it felt the tug of the mid-latitude westerlies.

Even as the core lost its definition and the peak winds decreased, Kirk's windfield grew as it gained latitude, pushing large waves to coasts all around the Atlantic. It lost major hurricane status on October 6 and turned northeast. Increasingly hostile upper-level winds soon began extratropical transition. The storm became post-tropical during the morning of October 7. What was left of Kirk eventually brought rain and strong winds to parts of western Europe a few days later.

The image above shows Kirk as a category 4 hurricane over the open Atlantic on September 4.

Despite being a large hurricane, Kirk did not directly affect land as a tropical cyclone.

Tropical Storm Joyce (2024)

Storm Active: September 27-30

On September 22, another tropical wave left Africa and entered the eastern tropical Atlantic. Within a few days, the disturbance was close to tropical storm status, but the center was not well-defined enough. It took a few more days for the system to clear the final hurdle and become Tropical Storm Joyce on September 27, when it was located around halfway between Africa and the Leeward Islands. Joyce intensified modestly in the day after its formation and turned northwest into a weakness in the subtropical ridge. However, the system soon encountered increasing wind shear and began to weaken by September 29.

Late that same day, it weakened to a tropical depression. Though the storm continued to produce bursts of thunderstorm activity, the center became less and less defined and eventually dissipated late on September 30.

Joyce was a small tropical storm; the image above shows a satellite image from September 27.

Joyce was a short-lived tropical storm that did not affect any land areas.

Hurricane Isaac (2024)

Storm Active: September 25-30

Around September 20, a frontal boundary moved into eastward into the Atlantic ocean from North America. A well-defined non-tropical low formed along the boundary and passed north of Bermuda on September 23. Deep convection increased near the center over the next couple of days and the circulation separated from the front. The system was named Tropical Storm Isaac late on September 25 over the central tropical Atlantic.

Isaac rode the clockwise flow east-northeast around the north side of the subtropical ridge and encountered enough upper-level divergence and instability to support strengthening even over marginally warm sea surface temperatures. The storm reached hurricane status early on the 27th and an eye began to intermittently appear on satellite imagery.

Surprisingly, Isaac had a few more tricks up its sleeve, and intensified even further overnight. The eye became better defined and the surrounding area of convection larger and deeper. The storm peaked at category 2 strength on September 28 with peak winds of 105 mph and a central pressure of 968 mb. It turned northeast and began to pass over markedly colder water soon after. This began a period of gradual weakening, which brought Isaac back down to tropical storm strength by the evening of September 29, when it was passing northwest of the Azores. Beyond rough seas, there was no direct impact to the islands. Cold water and increasing shear brought about Isaac's transition to a post-tropical cyclone on September 30. The remnants continued northeastward until they dissipated west of Ireland.

The image above shows Isaac as a category 2 hurricane.

Isaac was impressively strong for its latitude, but did not affect any land areas.

Hurricane Helene (2024)

Storm Active: September 24-27

A large area of low pressure developed just east of central American around September 22. The sprawling system drifted generally northward, but the counterclockwise flow brought extreme rains especially to the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. The next day, the disturbance began to organize over the eastern Caribbean, but lacked a defined center. On the 24th, it became organized enough to be named Tropical Storm Helene.

When Helene formed, its center was exposed to the west of the main convective mass due to some shear out of the southwest. However, this shear was already diminishing; high oceanic heat content and atmospheric humidity soon put the storm on a strengthening trend as it moved northwestward. Helene was a large storm, with gale force radii above the 90th percentile of historical Atlantic cyclones at the same latitude. As a result, the core was slow to consolidate, but impacts were very widespread. When the storm passed just west of the northeast tip of the Yucatan Peninsula during the morning of September 25, tropical storm force winds already extended more than 250 miles from the center in some directions. Around the same time, Helene strengthened into a hurricane.

The hurricane began to feel the flow ahead of a trough over the central United States later that day and accelerated toward the north, entering the Gulf of Mexico. Overnight, the core of Helene steadily became better defined and an eye began to emerge. Once the eyewall was well-established, the intensification accelerated on September 26. The storm reached category 2 that morning and became a major hurricane that afternoon. By the early evening, Helene's forward speed had increased to more than 20 mph toward the north-northeast and it was closing in quickly on the Gulf coast. It reached category 4 soon after, reaching a peak intensity of 140 mph winds and a central pressure of 938 mb at landfall in the big bend region of Florida late on September 26, local time.

The large size and fast motion of the storm meant that the storm surge impacts to the concave area of coastline were very severe. On top of that, hurricane-force winds spread far inland and into Georgia before the storm could spin down significantly. The wind damage was severe for a large swath of the southeast, especially just east of the center's path. Helene weakened to a tropical storm over central Georgia and only lost tropical storm status over Tennessee during the afternoon of the 27th; the cyclone became post-tropical that evening. Its remnants slowed to a standstill near the Tennessee valley and slowly diminished, but the combination of Helene-influenced rains before the arrival of the storm and ex-Helene stalling over the area led to some of the storm's heaviest rainfall amounts in the region, especially western North Carolina. What was left of the hurricane finally dissipated by early on September 29.

The image above is a nighttime infrared satellite view of Hurricane Helene at peak intensity as a category 4 hurricane just before its landfall in Florida. The storm's uncommonly large windfield caused widespread damage.

Helene was a relatively short-lived but large and devastating storm.

Tropical Storm Gordon (2024)

Storm Active: September 11-17

A disturbance over the eastern Atlantic crossed the Cabo Verde Islands around September 10, bringing scattered rains to the islands. The next day, the system developed a closed circulation and was classified Tropical Depression Seven. The cyclone was small, with little in the way of thunderstorm activity, and organized only slowly as it moved steadily west-northwest. It wasn't until early on September 13 that it strengthened into Tropical Storm Gordon. Convection had increased with the storm, but was slightly displaced from the center by moderate wind shear out of the west. As a result, the cyclone did not manage to strengthen much, and reached peak winds of 45 mph on September 14.

Gordon entered a drier air mass shortly thereafter and began weakening again as it slowed down and turned slightly south of west under the influence of a ridge of high pressure. It became a tropical depression on September 15. Though weakening temporarily halted that evening, Gordon was never able to fully recover. Thunderstorm activity became more and more diffuse, and the center became less defined until it dissipated altogether on September 17.

The image above shows Gordon just after it was named.

Gordon was stifled by wind shear and dry air as it crossed the central tropical Atlantic.

Hurricane Francine (2024)

Storm Active: September 9-13

A tropical wave crossed the Atlantic Ocean during the last week of August without developing significantly. It made its way across the Caribbean and the Yucatan Peninsula before finally showing signs of organization in the Bay of Campeche a week into September. When the disturbance first entered the bay on the 7th, it was interacting with a cold front, and the area of low pressure was poorly defined. The system was producing vigorous storm activity though, and by the next day was also generating sustained winds to gale force. The inner structure of the disturbance improved markedly during the morning of September 9 and it was named Tropical Storm Francine.

The storm moved slowly northwest that day around the periphery of a ridge centered over Cuba. It took advantage of the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and began to strengthen. That night, an intrusion of dry air caused the core convection to collapse and temporarily hindered intensification. Deepening resumed the next morning and Francine turned toward the northeast as it began to feel the approach of a trough from the northwest. The evening of the 10th, the storm was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane. The storm accelerated toward the northeast overnight and wind shear began to increase as the storm neared the Louisiana coastline. As a result, the core took on a somewhat lopsided appearance. Nevertheless, Francine reached a peak category 2 intensity of 100 mph winds and a central pressure of 972 mb that afternoon just before landfall in central Louisiana.

Once inland, the storm rapidly weakened. It weakened to a tropical depression on September 12 over Mississippi and became post-tropical that afternoon. After that, the remnants slowed down and moved erratically across the interior southeast. This brought a sustained period of heavy rain to the region, especially northern Mississippi, until dissipation occurred a few days after.

The image above shows Francine just before landfall.

Francine's impacts were mitigated by the fact that it made landfall in a sparsely populated region and weakened quickly after landfall.

Hurricane Ernesto (2024)

Storm Active: August 12-20

During the second week of August, a tropical wave traversed the tropical Atlantic. Dry air near the wave limited its shower activity, so not much development occurred at first. Some spin became evident on satellite imagery around August 11, but convection remained very limited until the next day. During the afternoon of August 12, the system acquired a well-defined center and was designated Tropical Storm Ernesto a few hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands. Newly-formed Ernesto was moving at an extremely fast forward speed of 28 mph. On that heading, it quickly approached the Caribbean and the center passed near the island of Guadeloupe early on August 13.

Considering the struggles its precursor tropical wave had, Ernesto's transformation on the 12th and the 13th was extraordinary: the storm ballooned in size and developed large and pronounced banding features which brought heavy rains to locations hundreds of miles from the center. The organization of the core lagged a little behind but the cyclone nevertheless began to intensify steadily as it moved west-northwest through the northeast corner of the Caribbean. Ernesto was a strong tropical storm by the time it passed among the Virgin Islands that evening. Shortly after, the center of circulation emerged into the Atlantic, but a large blob of convection associated with the system persisted for the next day well to the south. This brought further heavy rain to Puerto Rico and neighboring areas.

During the morning of August 14, Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane. A trough of low pressure over the subtropical Atlantic turned the storm to the right throughout the day. Soon, the storm was headed north-northeast toward Bermuda. It underwent some structural changes too: periodic dry air intrusions prevented Ernesto from completing an eyewall, but lent the cyclone an spiral satellite apperance on the 15th. The radii of gale force winds also increased significantly in size and the pressure dropped. Hence even though conditions weren't ideal, the warm water and atmospheric instability helped Ernesto to reach category 2 hurricane strength by that evening. The storm peaked at 100 moh sustained winds and a central pressure of 969 mb as it approached Bermuda.

The trough that was steering Ernesto exited to the northeast by the 16th without fully capturing the cyclone. This slowed the storm's forward speed significantly. At the same time, wind shear increased markedly that day and pushed more dry air into the center of Ernesto. This weakened the storm, but it was still a category 1 hurricane when it made a direct landfall in Bermuda early on August 17. It moved quite slowly past the island, leading to a prolonged period of gale force winds. Early on the 18th, Ernesto was finally leaving the island behind and it weakened to a tropical storm. The cyclone found a pocket of more favorable conditions farther north and reintensified to a hurricane that day as a ragged eye appeared on satellite. A second trough arrived at the U.S. east coast to give Ernesto its final boost out to sea and the storm began accelerating toward the northeast. It stayed over the Gulf Stream waters long enough to reach a secondary peak intensity of 90 mph winds and a pressure of 968 mb during the morning of August 19. Late that day, though, it crossed the northern wall of the warm current and sea surface temperatures underneath Ernesto plummeted. The cyclone began to weaken and begin extratropical transition. However, it was still a hurricane when it passed just southeast of Newfoundland late the same evening, bringing gale force winds to the nearest corner of the island. Ernesto became post-tropical during the morning of August 20. The system moved quickly northeast across the Atlantic and impacted the UK a few days later.

The image above shows Ernesto as a category 2 hurricane on August 16 approaching Bermuda from the southeast.

Ernesto moved through the northeast Caribbean before making a direct landfall in Bermuda.

Hurricane Debby (2024)

Storm Active: August 2-9

During the last week of July, a tropical wave crossed the tropical Atlantic and moved along the northern Caribbean islands. For much of that journey, dry air stifled its development, but by August 1 it was starting to show some more signs of organization. The disturbance passed over Hispaniola and Cuba, bringing heavy rainfall. The land interaction slowed development a bit longer, but the system found a window to consolidate south of central Cuba later on August 2 and was classified Tropical Depression Four. The storm was initially steered west-northwest by a strong subtropical ridge, but a weakness over the eastern U.S. gave it the opportunity to turn northwest on August 3. The center passed over western Cuba that morning.

That evening, the cyclone emerged into the Gulf of Mexico. It found a much more humid atmosphere and low wind shear, which allowed the system to begin strengthening and become Tropical Storm Debby that evening. Thunderstorm activity began to build near the center of circulation early on August 4. Radar imagery also showed an eyewall building throughout the day as Debby paralleled the coastline of western Florida. The storm then turned north-northeast overnight and reached category 1 hurricane strength. It made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida during the morning of August 5 at its peak intensity of 80 mph winds and a central pressure of 979 mb.

Debby entered an area of weak steering currents and slowed down that day as it moved farther inland. Its winds diminished and the inner core decayed that evening as the cyclone was cut off from energy from the ocean. Nevertheless, a severe flooding event began to unfold for the southeast U.S. due to the slow movement of the storm. The center crossed Georgia and emerged over the Atlantic near the Georgia-South Carolina border during the afternoon of August 6. At the time, it was still hanging on to minimal tropical storm intensity. Though it moved over water, the storm did not travel eastward far enough to find the highest oceanic heat content of the region in the Gulf stream. As a result, the circulation remained mostly devoid of convection near the center and only gradually built back outer bands on August 7. It also underwent modest deepening, but did not much resemble a typical tropical storm. A rebuilding ridge to Debby's east began to push it back to the west of north that evening and made landfall in northern South Carolina overnight.

The storm's rains spread northward as it weakened inland on August 8. Late that afternoon, it weakened to a tropical depression. By early the next morning, the system became post-tropical over Virginia. The remnants of Debby sped off to the northeast and brought additional rain to the mid-Atlantic and regions farther north over the next couple of days.

The image above shows Debby at peak intensity as a category 1 hurricane in the early morning hours of August 5, just before Florida landfall.

Debby's slow movement across the U.S. southeast brought large rainfall totals, though flooding impacts were not as severe as initially feared.