2024 Hurricane Season Outlook: June 1st. That’s the day that most people around the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Seaboard dread annually. Why? Two words. Hurricane season. One would think that it’s not a big deal since they can be tracked and predicted, right? Wrong. Clearly whoever thinks that hasn’t been through, or seen the aftermath of a hurricane. And no, we aren’t even remotely talking about the professional hockey team either.
Time to Prepare: 2024 Hurricane Season
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Once again, that time of the year has arrived. Time to start making sure your batteries are stockpiled, you have ample non-perishable food sources, evacuation routes planned, etc. Hurricane season is nothing to joke about. Yes, they can be tracked and predicted but that is not to say that something out of the ordinary can’t, or won’t happen.
Take the 2012 Hurricane season for example. No one expected Hurricane Sandy to merge with a nor’easter and become Superstorm Sandy, which created a mass of devastation across the Eastern seaboard. These storms are not something to be taken lightly. They can be slow moving and create devastation or be fast moving and create devastation. There’s no discrimination with hurricanes.
When Does Hurricane Season Begin Officially?
There are two different sides of hurricane seasons, the Atlantic hurricane season and the Pacific hurricane season. The Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1st every year and lasts until November 30th. Meanwhile, the Pacific hurricane season begins May 15th each year and lasts until November 30th as well.
Why don’t they have the same length of season? Typically, in the Pacific Ocean, we tend to see more hurricanes developing earlier in the year, but that’s not to say that the same can’t or wont happen on the Atlantic side of the country. The other thing that we typically do not see with the Pacific side of the country is a major landfall.
Most of the hurricanes that form in the Pacific Ocean tend to stay out at sea. Only occasionally do they skirt passed Hawaii or end up making landfall along the Mexican or Central American Coastlines. The latest hurricane to make landfall along any of these areas was Hurricane Otis last year near Acapulco.
What Causes More Destruction: Wind or Storm Surge?
Many believe that the wind is responsible for the vast majority of the damage when a hurricane makes landfall, but they are greatly mistaken. It is the storm surge that has the ability to do the most damage and cause the most destruction. Think about it this way… Powerful waves come ashore strong enough to pull a house into the water. The wind can’t do that.
The wind can cause trees and other objects to damage your home and vehicles but what happens when the inside of your house is flooded? Storm surge is the one responsible for that problem. Storm surge also causes the most hurricane related fatalities.
It is always recommended to follow the instructions of any emergency preparedness team. Keep an eye on the storms and forecasts, and make sure that you are prepared to either hunker down at your residence or job, or to evacuate if the situation calls for it. Never think that it can’t happen. It can and could happen to anyone, anywhere.
What Will Have More of an Effect: El Niño or La Niña?
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Both of these effects have something to do with hurricane season. One can cause more hurricanes to form while the other can cause a more mild and quieter hurricane season. Usually both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean will see more activity during a La Niña event, while an El Niño event will see less activity.
This has to do with the temperature of the ocean water on both sides of the country and other weather conditions as well. Typically we see dry conditions associated with a La Niña event and wetter/snowier conditions with El Niño events. The stronger these episodes are, the stronger and more intense conditions associated with each episode respectively, become.
We are currently in the transitional period between the La Niña and El Niño events. This past year we witnessed one of the strongest El Niño episodes on record. Now La Niña is having a turn at things and will make way for what could be a very active Atlantic hurricane season.
2024 Hurricane Forecast
While hurricanes can be tracked using satellite radar and other weather instruments, it depends significantly on the weather patterns themselves. This year, the Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be a very active one. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has predicted an above average season, with 14 named storms.
With the Atlantic hurricane season officially underway, it is off to a quiet start. But it is only day 3. Anything can change overnight. There are tropical waves currently being monitored throughout the Atlantic Basin but there are no expectations of any type of tropical formation at this time.
The list of names of hurricanes always starts with A and this year the first named storm will be Alberto. The list of names is recycled every 6 years, unless a storm has caused such catastrophic damage and destruction that the NHC retires the name. So you won’t see another hurricane named Andrew, Katrina, Ivan, Michael, Opal, etc.
Most of the land-falling hurricanes we see occur in the Atlantic Basin. Very rarely do we see a storm form in the Atlantic Ocean, make landfall, and respawn in the Pacific Ocean. (Iniki, 1992) If you look at any of the retired hurricane names, most of those formed in the Atlantic Ocean.
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About the Author
Amanda Bentle is a mother with many talents under her belt. She is also a wife, co-worker, friend, daughter, and sister. Writing is something that has always come naturally to her. Amanda is able to share her love of many hobbies, as she is not a one-hobby kind of gal with her husband and son. Not only is Amanda a master of many talents and hobbies, but one of the many things she loves as much as her little family are the cats and dogs that she has rescued and welcomed into her little family over the last seven to ten years.