2024 Hurricane Season Outlook: What It Means for Alabama

With the onset of spring, there is a heightened focus on various meteorological conditions, like severe weather. Yet, directing our attention toward the forthcoming Hurricane Season is also important, as Colorado State University has recently published its initial predictions.

Honestly, it doesn’t look that good.

Scientists, Researchers, and Professors from Colorado State University “anticipate that the 2024 Atlantic basin hurricane season will be extremely active.”

Get our free mobile app

The main driving forces for this extremely active hurricane season are twofold.

Rationale 1

Initially, it is anticipated that El Niño will transition to La Niña, which is typically linked to the intensification of storms.

This could happen during the prime time of hurricane season “with the odds of La Niña developing by June-August 2024,” said the NWS Climate Prediction Center.

Rationale 2

Furthermore, the Atlantic Ocean is experiencing unprecedented warmth across numerous regions, a condition that may also contribute to the amplification of storm activity.

Brian McNoldy, a University of Miami tropical scientist, said, "March's monthly-average sea surface temperature data: the North Atlantic continues to shatter records. In fact, this year, it has not (and will not) get below 20°C for the first time in recorded history.”

Colorado State University 2024 Hurricane Season Forecast

23 Named Storms

11 Hurricanes

5 Category 3 +

The alarming information is that the average number of named storms is 14, whereas 7 of them will become hurricanes, and 3 will reach Category 3+ status.

According to The Weather Channel, “that is well above the 30-year average tally for both hurricanes and storms and also markedly above the tally of 20 storms, seven hurricanes and three Cat 3-plus hurricanes in 2023.”

What Does This Mean for Alabama?

The Weather Channel said, not only does this "mean more storms and hurricanes, but a bigger threat, especially in the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean Sea.”

Mary K. - Weather Forecaster