It began with Hurricane Beryl — a Category 5 storm that bested known records when it formed in the Atlantic Basin within the first month of hurricane season last year.
After Beryl cleared, a long lull in July offered hope that the season would be a bust, but the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season proved to be anything but a sleepy one.
August brought Debby to Florida and South Carolina then a succession of storms with activity dramatically increasing in late September.
Renowned senior research scientist Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University said a particularly warm Atlantic and borderline La Nina in the Pacific made conditions ripe for extreme tropical activity.
Klotzbach is the headliner at the 39th annual Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference being held in West Palm Beach this week. Klotzbach worked closely with the late William Gray, a giant in the field of tropic meteorology, also from Colorado State University.
"Last year was crazy," Klotzbach said.
There were 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five of them — all making landfall in the Gulf Coast — were considered major storms of a Category 3 or above.
The season beat out every average and resulted in 425 fatalities.
Hurricane Milton, a storm that increased 90 mph in just 24 hours, walloped the Gulf Coast as many water-logged communities were just getting started with debris removal caused by Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier.
But Milton's punch did more than assault Gulf Coast communities when it skirted across the state wrecking havoc. It was the first tropical cyclone since 1995 to produce more than one EF3 tornado: It produced three.
Attendees were reminded of other season highlights at this premiere event that draws thousands each year from around the United States and seven countries.
Klotzbach spoke in a large ballroom Wednesday about the last season in preparation for his much-anticipated big reveal of predictions for the upcoming season. That reveal will be Friday.
"Unfortunately hurricane season does come around and doesn't give you any breaks and we're going to have another one [season] unfortunately coming up here in a few weeks," he told the crowd.
As the season progresses, it's customary for forecasters to update predictions. The Atlantic hurricane season is from June 1 through Nov. 30.
Seasoned emergency management directors also shared their insights Wednesday, the midpoint of the week-long training conference.
Key among the panel discussion was the one-two punch from Helene and then Milton.
"I think it was very surreal and people probably thought we were kidding and we're going to have to do this again," said Cathie Perkins, the director of Pinellas County Emergency Management.
She joined emergency management leaders from Sarasota, Manatee and Hillsborough counties onstage.
The panel also focused on debris management, housing recovery and maintaining staff motivation during multiple storms as the nation gears up for the 2025 hurricane season.
They also discussed frustrations with all the thousands of high-water rescues first responders completed because so many residents did not heed the warnings to evacuate ahead of the storms.
The idea that the impending storm won't impact people is pervasive.
"Until people experience it themselves, they just cannot fathom it," Perkins said.
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