Just when Texans thought it was safe to prepare for Halloween, Thanksgiving, a presidential election, fall colors, sweaters, sugar, pumpkin spice, and everything nice ... the 2024 hurricane season reminded them that the biggest drama of all — destructive tropical weather — was not done with them yet.
After a week that saw increased tropical activity from Cuba to Africa, the National Hurricane Center (NHS) on Sunday issued advisories for three significant storms.
First, the NHS warned of a large low pressure system growing over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. It was expected to move northward toward the U.S. Mexico border and possibly Deep South Texas.
Forecasters said the system could form into a tropical depression by Wednesday.
That also increased rain chances for San Antonio midweek.
Then there were also high chances for two other systems in the Central and Eastern Atlantic regions to strengthen into tropical depressions later in the week. Both were expected to continue westward tracks, but it was too soon to tell if they would pose serious threats to the United States.
Drier air consisting of the cooler, early fall-like low temperatures, remains into early Tuesday. Moisture levels and rain chances then increase with a tropical disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico. The rain chances end by late week as the system moves away from Texas. #txwx pic.twitter.com/4vmCFaspbk
— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) September 8, 2024
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and ends on Nov. 30.
September tends to be the peak of any hurricane season, and storm experts predicted 2024 would be the busiest hurricane season on record.
The year has already seen serious hurricane and tropical storms. Among them were Alberto in June; Beryl, the earliest Category 5 storm to form in the Atlantic, struck Texas in July; in August, Debby struck Florida, and Ernesto flooded communities from Puerto Rico to Bermuda.
If this year's list of names is exhausted, forecasters will not draw more names from the Greek alphabet, as was done in 2020. The World Meteorological Organization decided in 2021 that a supplemental list of names would be used instead.
Preparations
The Texas Department of Public Safety has regularly reminded all residents to prepare themselves for the hurricane season. When there is activity in the Gulf, its advice for coastal residents has been for them to study hurricane evacuation maps and identify at least two routes they could take — a primary route and a backup route.
An emergency kit should include water, non-perishable food, medications, first aid, flashlights, batteries, battery-powered radio, personal hygiene items and important documents. The Texas Department of State Health Services has also offered an online checklist and a printable PDF checklist.
If residents have not assembled their kits by now, they should do so as soon as possible, ensuring that those documents can be quickly located, added to the kit and taken with them. They should also keep in mind the special needs of elderly or disabled loved ones or neighbors.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also offered disaster-related advice. A collection of articles, videos and other resources counsel consumers about how to avoid scams as they prepare to evacuate, how to organize those important documents, and how to rebuild finances after enduring a severe weather emergency, among other topics. The FTC's advice comes in multiple languages, including Ukrainian, Spanish, Tagalog and Arabic.
Unexpected effects
The tropical weather may also indirectly lead to shark attacks.
At least four shark-related incidents — including at least two shark bites — were reported off South Padre Island during the Fourth of July holiday, just as Hurricane Beryl moved closer to Texas.
Kesley Banks, a research scientist at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said that large coastal sharks may increase their feeding behavior just before meteorological disturbances strike coastal communities, according to a recent study from Florida.
“Sharks can predict a hurricane before us," Banks explained to Houston Public Media in early July. "They’re obviously increasing feeding prior to a hurricane just like we prep before a large meteorological disturbance. Likely it is just a case of mistaken identity during that increase feeding behavior prior to the storm.”
Their intensified activity overlaps with large numbers of people enjoying warm waters. They investigate by bumping the potential prey with their sandpaper-like skin, injuring the human with a scrape, or by taking an exploratory bite with razor-sharp teeth, leading to serious wounds and blood loss.
According to a statement from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, "shark encounters of this nature are not a common occurrence in Texas. When bites from sharks do occur, they are usually a case of mistaken identity by sharks looking for food."
It added: "If you see large schools of bait near the shore, this is typically an indicator a predator is nearby, or if you see a shark in the water, calmly exit the water and wait for the predatory wildlife to pass."
Houston Public Media's Spencer Plato contributed to this report.
