Beryl a sign of a 'hyperactive' hurricane season, new forecast says

Hurricane Beryl: 8 dead, 2 million without power

Cleanup efforts are underway after Beryl left a path of destruction through Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Colorado State University researchers increased their forecast for the hurricane season the day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas.

The new forecast increases the predicted number of named storms in 2024 to 25.

The forecast predicts that 12 of those storms would reach hurricane status and six would become major hurricanes, a Category 3 or higher hurricane.

In June, CSU predicted 23 named storms with 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes.

"Extremely warm sea surface temperatures provide a much more conducive dynamic and thermodynamic environment for hurricane formation and intensification," said the forecasters in the report. "Hurricane Beryl, a deep tropical Category 5 hurricane, is also a likely harbinger of a hyperactive season."

The CSU scientists also give a 57 percent chance that a Category 3 or higher hurricane will make landfall somewhere in the U.S.

That is higher than the 43 percent full-season average from 1880-2020.

"Our confidence this year is higher than normal for a July forecast based on the strength and persistence of the current hurricane-favorable large-scale environmental conditions," the forecasters wrote.

The forecast also looked at the chances that each state sees a hurricane make landfall during the rest of the 2024 season.

Florida had the highest chance (71 percent), followed by Louisiana and North Carolina (52 percent) and then Texas (50 percent).

"As with all hurricane seasons, coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season. Thorough preparations should be made every season, regardless of predicted activity," said the forecasters.