ORLANDO, Fla. – Forecasters at Colorado State University in April predicted its most active hurricane season forecast. It wasn’t active enough.
On Tuesday, CSU revised its forecast for the 2024 hurricane season upward — from 23 named storms to 25 named storms.
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Forecasters said the extremely warm sea surface temperatures are creating a much more “conducive dynamic and thermodynamic environment for hurricane formation and intensification,” in their update. The power of Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 storm so early in the year, likely presages the busier season.
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“We anticipate a well above-average probability for major hurricane landfalls along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean,” the forecasters wrote. “As with all hurricane seasons, coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season. Thorough preparations should be made every season, regardless of predicted activity.”
Of the 25 named storms being predicted, 12 are now predicted to be hurricanes and six of those are predicted to be major hurricanes, up from 11 and five, respectively.
The forecasters say the probability of at least one major hurricane making landfall along the continental U.S. coastline was 57%, with a 31% chance of a major hurricane hitting the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida peninsula, and a 38% chance of a storm hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Florida panhandle to Brownsville, Texas.
Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.