First Hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic Season Announced

A storm system approximately 1,200 miles southeast of Barbados could become the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, according to forecasts. The tropical depression, moving westward towards the Caribbean, is expected to develop into a tropical storm by Friday evening or Saturday and reach hurricane strength by Sunday evening. On Friday evening, the National Hurricane Center estimated the storm's sustained wind speeds at 35 miles per hour, with even stronger gusts. Once the wind speed reaches 39 miles per hour, the system will be classified as a tropical storm and given a name—expected to be Beryl. A storm is classified as a hurricane when wind speeds reach 74 miles per hour. A named storm this far east in the Atlantic is unusual for this time of year, noted John Cangialosi, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, in a report on Friday. "There have been very few storms in history that have developed this early in the year over the central or eastern tropical Atlantic," he wrote. The storm is expected to cross the islands of the eastern Caribbean by Sunday evening and move through the central Caribbean Sea by mid-next week. Rainfall of three to six inches, hurricane-force winds, and dangerous storm surges are possible in the eastern Caribbean islands, including Barbados as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines, from Sunday to Monday. However, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the storm's track forecast, especially over a period of more than three days. Typically, a June storm in this part of the Atlantic does not develop into a hurricane, but current atmospheric conditions would support gradual strengthening, explained Cangialosi. Some computer models suggest that the storm could develop into a fully-fledged Category 3 hurricane or higher. This hurricane season is expected to be active. Meteorologists have warned that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could be more active than usual. At the end of May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted 17 to 25 named storms this year, an "above-normal" number and a forecast consistent with over a dozen predictions from experts at universities, private companies, and government agencies earlier in the year. On average, a hurricane season yields 14 named storms. The seasonal hurricane outlooks have been particularly aggressive as meteorologists began to explore a combination of circumstances that have not occurred since records began in the mid-19th century: record-high water temperatures in the Atlantic and the possible development of the La Niña weather phenomenon. La Niña occurs in the Pacific due to altered ocean temperatures and affects global weather patterns. When strong, it typically provides a calm environment in the Atlantic that favors the development and strengthening of storms, without wind patterns hindering their organization.