Kirk — 2024

A tropical wave that moved off the west coast of Africa on 25 September organized into a broad low and became a tropical depression at 1800 UTC 29 September about 450 nautical miles west of the southwestern Cabo Verde Islands. The system strengthened into Tropical Storm Kirk on 30 September and followed a long, curved track over the open Atlantic. Kirk underwent a period of rapid intensification on 2–3 October, reached its peak early on 4 October, then gradually weakened and became extratropical on 7 October. The extratropical remnant moved toward western Europe and dissipated by 10 October. Kirk remained well offshore during its entire tropical phase; no coastal watches or warnings were issued and the cyclone made no tropical-landfall. After becoming extratropical, the system affected parts of western Europe on 8–9 October, bringing locally severe weather to Portugal, Spain, and France. The storm’s maximum sustained winds peaked at 130 knots (150 mph) early on 4 October, with an estimated minimum central pressure of 928 millibars. At peak intensity Kirk was a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. There were no storm surge measurements or tropical-rainfall totals reported to the NHC for Atlantic coastal locations because Kirk stayed at sea. The extratropical remnants produced flooding and strong gusts in parts of Portugal, Spain, and France; specific surge heights and quantitative rainfall totals were not given in the report. No direct fatalities or damage were reported from Kirk while it was a tropical cyclone. One person drowned on 9 October when a boat capsized near the south of France after Kirk had become extratropical; the NHC noted no reports of damage or casualties associated with the tropical cyclone itself. Kirk’s formation was not well predicted more than a few days in advance—NHC’s Tropical Weather Outlooks first identified a possible disturbance about 54 hours before genesis and only increased the 7‑day genesis probability to “high” about 24 hours before formation. Track forecasts for Kirk were better than average, with official track and intensity errors generally comparable to or lower than recent typical forecast errors.