Published on May 31, 2024 at 3:40 p.m.
Hurricane season is getting underway and it promises to be tough in 2024. Here’s everything you need to know.
In short :
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An active season in 2024;
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Tropical waves already present;
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Higher than normal chances of coastal impacts.
A busy season
According to normal, the start of the hurricane season has already begun in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since May 15. On the other hand, in the Atlantic, it begins on June 1.
What is a hurricane?
“At the moment, we are starting to monitor what is happening in the Atlantic basin because there are tropical waves that have formed and come from West Africa. With warm waters, these waves can become a tropical depression, then a storm, then a hurricane. For now, they are waves. It has to organize itself to become a hurricane,” explains Bertin Ossonon, meteorologist.
A tropical depression forms with winds less than or equal to a speed of 62 km/h. The tropical storm stage is an intermediate between tropical depressions and hurricanes. It is characterized by sustained winds of at least 63 km/h and up to 118 km/h.
Category 1 hurricanes are listed with winds between 119 and 153 km/h. Category 2 ones blow up to 177 km/h, while category 3 can reach gusts of up to 208 km/h.
In extreme cases, for categories 4 and 5, the winds are between 209 and 252 km/h.
