The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was highly active and destructive, becoming the third-costliest on record behind only 2017 and 2005, officially running from June 1 to November 30. It featured 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and 5 major hurricanes, making it the first season since 2019 to produce multiple Category 5 hurricanes, and it achieved the highest Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) rating since 2020. Early on, Hurricane Beryl broke records as the earliest Category 5 hurricane in July, causing over $9 billion in damage across the Caribbean and Texas, while late-season Hurricane Helene struck Florida's Big Bend as a Category 4, unleashing catastrophic flooding in central Appalachia that killed 252 people and caused $78.7 billion in damage. In October, Hurricane Milton explosively intensified into the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2024, making landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on October 9, and resulting in $34.4 billion in losses. Other notable storms included Hurricane Oscar, which had the smallest hurricane-force wind field on record, and Hurricane Rafael, which battered western Cuba, while the season concluded with Tropical Storm Sara in mid-November. Although forecasters predicted an above-average season due to warmer sea surfaces, a heat dome, Saharan air layer, and strong wind shear suppressed activity from mid-July to mid-September, yet the season still accumulated around $131 billion in total damage and 442 fatalities across all systems.