There were numerous unforgettable storms that grabbed headlines in 2024, including the devastating hurricanes Helene and Milton. However, several other storms this past year leapt off the page as well. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from the 2024 Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons:

Tropical Storm Alberto

The 2024 hurricane season began in mid-June with the formation of Potential Tropical Cyclone #1 on June 17, in the Bay of Campeche. It gradually became better organized as it drifted toward the Texas-Mexico border and became Tropical Storm Alberto on June 19, marking the latest start to an Atlantic hurricane season since 2014. Alberto would make landfall the next day in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, with sustained winds of 50 mph. Alberto rapidly weakened after landfall and dissipated just 9 hours later.

While Alberto was weak, it also very broad with widespread rain and coastal flooding across the western Gulf of Mexico. Rain amounts of 3 to 6 inches across the southern half of Texas, southern Louisiana and northern Mexico, while localized amounts up to 10 inches occurred in the Corpus Christi area. Water levels rose 2 to 4 feet along parts of the Louisiana and Texas coasts leading to several days of coastal flooding. Storm surge in Galveston, Texas, reached a height of 4 feet which was the city’s seventh highest water level on record. Alberto was responsible for 5 fatalities and $179 million in damage.

Hurricane Ernesto

The fifth storm of the 2024 season began as a tropical wave southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands on August 8. This system would struggle to organize for a few days as it crossed the main development region of the tropical Atlantic but became better organized at it neared the Leeward Islands on August 11 and was designated Potential Tropical Cyclone #5. On August 12, the system strengthened into Tropical Storm Ernesto. The tropical storm would deliver heavy rain and gusty winds to the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico before Ernesto curved northward, strengthening into a hurricane on August 14. Ernesto would reach its peak as a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 mph on August 16. Just a day later, the hurricane would pass over Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane.

Ernesto was responsible for numerous power outages, wind damage and minor flooding across the Leeward Islands and Virgin Islands. Over 728,000 customers lost power in Puerto Rico while rain amounts between 6 and 12 inches occurred. High winds and flooding also led to large areas of crop damage which totaled around $40 million. Bermuda also took a direct hit from the hurricane, which downed many trees and powerlines and produced light wind damage to some structures. Nearly 29,000 people were left without power as the storm blew through. Hurricane Ernesto was indirectly responsible for 3 fatalities on the U.S. East coast due to rip currents despite the storm passing over 600 miles offshore.

Hurricane Hone

Hone was the eighth named storm and third hurricane of the 2024 Pacific season. Tropical Depression One-C was designated on August 22 after two disturbances merged together over the north-central Pacific. Just six hours later, the system strengthened into Tropical Storm Hone. Hone was the first tropical cyclone to form in the North-Central Pacific Basin since Tropical Storm Ema in October 2019. Hone would strengthen into a hurricane on August 25, while passing just south of the Big Island of Hawaii with peak sustained winds of 85 mph.
Hone’s impacts were mainly felt across the Big Island, where very heavy rain occurred, widespread rain amounts of 10 to 15 inches were reported with higher localized amounts. The highest rain amount reported was 27.5 inches, at Hakalau on the northeast coast of the Big Island. There was mainly minor wind damage reported and nearly 26,000 power outages. Overall, Hone was responsible for just over $8 million in damage.

Hurricane Francine

Francine was the sixth named storm and fourth hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. It became Potential Tropical Cyclone #6 over the Gulf of Mexico on September 8. It became named “Francine” the next day as it strengthened into a tropical storm. Making landfall near Terrebonne Parish, La., on September 11, this Category 2 hurricane had peak sustained winds of 100 mph at the time of landfall. This hurricane stopped 39-percent of oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and caused crude oil prices to jump 2-percent. Nearly 450,000 people suffered from power outages and 500 people took refuge in emergency shelters in Louisiana, while 60,000 customers lost power in Mississippi and 39,000 in Alabama. Apalachicola, Fla., received a whopping 12.75 inches of rain!

Hurricane John

Tropical Depression Ten-E was first identified on September 22 in the eastern Pacific Ocean, acquiring the name, John, the morning of the 23^rd. John rapidly intensified and became a hurricane just a few hours later, and became a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph before making landfall on September 24 about 25 miles northwest of Punta Maldonado, Mexico.

Very heavy rainfall, totaling more than 20 inches in Acapulco, Mexico, fell from John, with over 10 inches of rain in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. Heavy rainfall also fell in the neighboring states of Chiapas, Veracruz, Michoacan and Puebla. In some of these areas, 80-percent of their annual rainfall fell in just a few days. At least 29 people died from John, with 23 dead in Guerrero, 5 in Oaxaca and 1 in Michoacan. Mudslides were responsible for some of these deaths, while also cutting off roads and communities and knocking out power to thousands. More than 5,000 people were rescued from flooded areas, with total overall losses from John estimated to have exceeded $1 billion.

Hurricane Oscar

Oscar was a surprise hurricane that impacted eastern Cuba. It was surprising as it had the smallest wind field of any hurricane in the Atlantic, with a 5 to 6-mile-wide hurricane-force wind field. According to Philippe Papin of the National Hurricane Center, Oscar “kind of snuck up a little bit on us.”

Although the NHC had initially identified this system on October 4 over the eastern Atlantic, it drifted westward for days and days as it slowly and inconsistently strengthened. Eventually, the circulation became better organized and it was named Tropical Storm Oscar on October 19. Slow development was in its past as it became a hurricane later that day. Peak sustained winds of 85 mph made Oscar a Category 1 hurricane, although the tiny size of the storm meant that gale-force winds only stretching out 35 miles from its center. On October 20, Oscar made landfall near the Cuban city of Baracoa.

Maisi, Cuba, saw over 14 inches of rain while Baracoa saw 10.6 inches. Many locations in the province of Guantanamo saw over 10 inches of rain. In Baracoa, a seawall was breached causing flooding along the city’s coastline. Around 2,282 homes were damaged in Guantanamo with more than half of those total roof failures. Oscar caused damage of $33.2 million.

Tropical Storm Nadine and Hurricane Kristy

Although following chronologically on the heels of major Hurricane Milton’s collision course with Florida, Tropical Storm Nadine possessed little of Milton’s ferocity. However, it was still inclined to rewrite the rulebooks. Nadine formed as a broad area of low pressure on October 15 in the southwestern Caribbean Sea and became better organized as it moved westward toward the Central American coast. By October 18, it was becoming clear that something was brewing. The system was called Potential Tropical Cyclone #15, and by the next morning it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Nadine. Nadine’s time over the Caribbean was short as it was designated just 120 miles from the coast of Belize – about a 12-hour journey. In that brief window, Nadine was able to increase its winds to 60 mph before it did come ashore on October 19 near Belize City, Belize.

Tropical Storm Nadine dropped heavy rainfall across southern Belize and southern Mexico, causing the Mollejon and Chalillo dams to spill. The result was rivers across the region cresting as much as 15 feet above normal, making some bridges impassable, and sending the rivers to levels not seen in more than 20 years. Across Mexico, the outer edges of Nadine produced as much as 19.7 inches of rain in Ostuacan, leading to nearly 1300 homes being damaged by floodwaters and the deaths of at least 6 people.

Although Nadine would quickly fall apart as it moved across central America, the storm’s story wasn’t done quite yet. Remnant moisture and energy from the tropical storm continued to spin westward, eventually moving into the Pacific Ocean and feeding a new tropical disturbance. Very quickly, the remnants formed into a new tropical storm, given the name Kristy.

Kristy steadily moved westward, away from the coast of Mexico on October 21, feeding off the warm water of the ocean. By the afternoon of the 21^st, Kristy had attained hurricane intensity and by the following morning was a major hurricane. Incredibly, Kristy continued to intensify, briefly peaking as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph.

The next few days weren’t as kind to Kristy as it faced progressively cooler ocean temperatures and increasing wind shear. Thus, by October 26, Hurricane Kristy dropped below hurricane intensity and completed its tropical lifecycle by October 27. Nadine’s second life as Hurricane Kristy rewrote the rulebooks as one of the few storms to start in the Atlantic and then reach Category 5 once in the Pacific.

Hurricane Rafael

The season wasn’t inclined to end without a bang, and the last hurricane of the year was a major one at that. Low pressure in the Caribbean slowly advanced northeastward over the first few days of November. Slow to develop, it took on a wobbling path toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, where it was designated as Potential Tropical Cyclone #18. On November 4, the cyclone was able to organize into a tropical storm, given the name Rafael, and it passed west of Jamaica the next day. By November 6, Rafael reached hurricane intensity, with its small eye feeding the storm as it marched toward a landfall in Artemisa, Cuba, on the evening of the 6^th as a major hurricane with winds of 115 mph. Rafael had a short-lived trek across Cuba, and although land had weakened the storm, it was able to recover major hurricane intensity. At this point, Rafael put the U.S. Gulf Coast on notice, but a U.S. landfall was not meant to be. High pressure over the Deep South steered Rafael westward into the open Gulf, where it quickly lost its organization about halfway between the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf Coast. Rafael’s moisture and remnant energy then wandered around the Gulf for a few days before being swept into a cold front away from the region.

Many of the early preparations from Rafael came in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, where the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) and the University College of the Cayman Islands were both closed. Persistent and torrential rainfall across both countries led to significant damage, with preliminary estimates of $30 to 60 million US.

Coming just a few weeks after Hurricane Oscar and an island-wide power failure, Rafael’s meandering track was significant cause for concern in Cuba. Nearly 300,000 people were evacuated across the island ahead of the storm, including 98,000 in Havana. The impact of the storm was quite strong indeed. As much as 12 inches of rain fell across western Cuba, leading to flooding and landslides. In Artemisa, nearly 3,000 homes were damaged with 40,000 acres of crops damaged or destroyed. The damage continued as Rafael tracked about 30 miles west of Havana, which saw tropical storm-force sustained winds of 44 mph and gusts of 71 mph. Numerous buildings were damaged across Havana along with severe flooding.

2024 Year in Review: Active Tropical Season for Atlantic, Pacific