This year has been marked by extraordinary weather events across the United States, from devastating hurricanes to record-breaking heatwaves and severe wildfires. Here is Forbes’ list of some of the top weather events and the factors that made them significant.
2024 Hurricane Season
After a quiet start to the hurricane season, Hurricane Helene emerged as one of the most destructive storms of the year. Helene made landfall on September 29 in the Big Bend area of Florida as Category 4. Besides the rapid intensification of the storm, the extreme rainfall and flooding is what escalated its devastating impacts.
Hurricane Helene’s path extended from northwestern Florida to Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas. The highest rainfall was in North Carolina with more than 30 inches of rain in less than four days. It overflowed rivers and washed-out neighborhood and roads.
Helene claimed over 230 lives and left tens of thousands displaced. Residents in Asheville, North Carolina, didn’t have full access to potable water 53 days after the storm hit. And as NPR reported, the economic toll was staggering, contributing to the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season’s more than $190 billion in total damages.
Just two weeks after Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton struck Florida’s west coast in October. Again, Milton’s rapid intensification into a Category 5 hurricane was surprising but it was the 46 tornadoes, three rated EF3, that was unprecedented. It is not unusual for hurricanes to spawn tornadoes, but they are typically weaker storms.
The Hottest Summer on Record
On July 22, the planet recorded its hottest day ever, with temperatures in many U.S. cities soaring above 110°F. But the heat wave lasted days and months for several cities straining power grids and water supplies. For example, Austin, Texas, residents experienced 30 days of 100°F or higher in August.
But it was the entire western region of the United States that broke records for the length and severity of its “historic” heat waves from early Summer into late Fall. Las Vegas, Nevada, residents sweltered through 112 days of 100°F plus temperatures. Arizona’s state capital Phoenix had a record-breaking hot summer, with 113 days in a row when temperatures soared over 100 degrees F. This smashes the previous record set in 1993, with a much lower 76 consecutive 100-degree days.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Death Valley, California beat its own previous record of 108.1 degrees set in July 2018. The high temperatures in July of 2024 were 120 degrees or hotter on 24 of 31 days, and the low was 95 degrees or hotter on 19 of 31 days. But months later and well into Fall, Palm Springs, California, broke a 102-year-old temperature record when it hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit in the first week of October.
According to The Guardian, this summer was the hottest on record across the world. The Earth saw its hottest day in recorded history on 22 July, which broke a record set the previous day. The heatwave posed severe health risks, with hospitals reporting spikes in heat-related illnesses. It also takes an economic toll in states and cities across the country.
Increased Tornado Outbreaks
The 2024 year-to-date U.S. preliminary tornado count is nearly 1,800, according to NOAA. This is among the highest tornado counts on record for the same January-November period. The final tornado count will likely decrease after all reports have been verified in the field. More than 1,000 of those tornadoes were reported during the spring months.
A series of severe tornado outbreaks broke out across the Midwest in March. Over 20 tornadoes, some reaching EF-3 intensity, tore through states such as Indiana, and Illinois. In August, Northeast Ohio had five EF-1 tornadoes and widespread straight-line winds damage that knocked out power for 400,000 residents.
And to cap off the year, a massive string of deadly cyclones swept across the southern region, as 11 tornadoes formed across southeastern Texas during Christmas week. When we think of December in SE Texas, tornadoes are not the first thing that comes to mind, but the region has seen tornadic activity in December before—just not this many at once. The yearly average for tornadoes is just three and a half.
Texas Wildfires
In early 2024, the Texas Panhandle experienced one of its worst wildfire seasons in history. Massive fires burned over 1.1 million acres, destroying hundreds of structures and killing more than 7,000 cattle. The fires were fueled by dry conditions, strong winds, and unseasonably warm temperatures.
What made this weather event even more significant was the speed at which the fires spread. Once a fire begins and spreads it can travel at a rate up to 14.27 miles per hour, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The Texas wildfires scorched 500,000 acres within 24 hours of ignition.
The Broader Implications
Many of the extreme events can be attributed to a changing climate. For example, both the World Weather Attribution and Climate Central said that climate change made possible the warmer water temperatures that helped amplify Milton. And while wildfires are not unusual in Texas, the timing, early February, and the speed of spread was. Multiple studies report climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up 30% by the end of 2050.
But before I end this article on the stunning, destructive and record-breaking events of 2024, I want to point out that we also have research that points to less people dying due to extreme events. According to the World Meteorological Organization, even though weather-related disasters have increased five-fold yet the number of people dying from these events is decreasing.
Early warning systems, disaster management, advanced technologies to monitor and predict events, as well as advancements in climate and weather science are credited with the decrease. This is a positive step for the health and well-being of the public, as well as the weather resiliency and business continuity of businesses and industries.
Looking ahead, we still have lessons learned that we can apply to future extreme weather events, and we can always do more scientifically to advance the understanding, forecasting and warning of weather. Here is to 2025 and a better – maybe quieter – year of weather events.
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