Hurricane Kirk (2024)

This article is about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane. For other storms of the same name, see List of storms named Kirk.

Hurricane Kirk
Hurricane Kirk at peak intensity in the open Atlantic early on 4 October
Meteorological history
Formed29 September 2024 (2024-09-29)
Extratropical7 October 2024 (2024-10-07)
Dissipated13 October 2024 (2024-10-13)[1][2]
Category 4 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds145 mph (230 km/h)
Lowest pressure934 mbar (hPa); 27.58 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities1
Damage>$10.9 million (2024 USD)
Areas affected
Part of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane and 2024–25 European windstorm seasons

Hurricane Kirk, known as Storm Kirk while extratropical, was a large and powerful tropical cyclone that caused significant damage in portions of Western Europe after transitioning into a European windstorm. The eleventh named storm, seventh hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Kirk originated from a broad area of low pressure near Cape Verde. Showers associated with the system became better organised, and satellite imagery on 29 September showed that the storm had intensified into a tropical depression; it became Tropical Storm Kirk the next day.

Favourable atmospheric and oceanic conditions fostered strengthening, though this trend levelled off after Kirk became a hurricane on 1 October. A period of renewed rapid intensification brought Kirk to peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale, with winds of 230 km/h (145 mph), on 4 October. Gradually curving to the northeast, Kirk weakened after peak intensity due to cooler sea surface temperatures, dry air, and wind shear, while also gaining size with latitude; it became an extratropical cyclone on 7 October. As it moved eastwards towards Western Europe, Kirk became the fifth storm of the 2024–25 European windstorm season. Additionally, 6 tornadoes occurred as it made landfall in Europe.[3]

  1. ^ "Europe Weather Analysis, 12 October 2024" (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst (FU Berlin). 12 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Europe Weather Analysis, 13 October 2024" (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst (FU Berlin). 13 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  3. ^ https://eswd.eu/