With the approach of each new Atlantic hurricane season, the World Meteorological Organization releases a list of names to be used for named storms that year.
The list is one of six that are rotated every six years.
When a storm causes extreme property damage and loss of life, its name is retired and a new name beginning with that letter fills that slot.
Sara is the 18th name on the list for 2024, making its second appearance on the list after replacing the very destructive Hurricane Sandy of 2012.
Hurricane Sandy 2012
In 2012, Sandy was the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history (behind Katrina), wreaking $50 billion in damage and killing 147 people, 72 of them in the U.S.
- • As a Category 3 hurricane, Sandy’s highest winds clocked at 115 mph.
- • It was also the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, spanning some 1,150 miles in diameter.
- • It ravaged the Caribbean before moving up the eastern U.S. seaboard and impacting 24 states.
In 2013, Sandy became the 77th name to be retired from the list of named Atlantic storms since 1954.
In 2018, the last named storm of the season was Hurricane Oscar, so Sara was unused during its first appearance.
If this year’s season stretches to include 18 named storms, what will define Tropical Storm Sara as opposed to Hurricane Sara?
Wind speed.
What is a Tropical Cyclone?
All named storms from this list are a form of tropical cyclone — a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has a closed low-level circulation.
What is a Tropical Depression?
Early in a cyclone’s development, as a tropical depression, wind speeds are less than 39 mph. Tropical depressions are not given names but are numbered and tracked in case they grow into tropical storms or hurricanes.
When Did Sara Become a Tropical Storm?
Should a sufficiently powerful weather system develop late in the season with a sustained wind speed of 39 mph, Tropical Storm Sara will make its debut.
If that speed reaches 74 mph, Hurricane Sara will enter the record books.
If you live in an area where such a storm system is expected, take all necessary precautions, keep up to date on reports of the storm’s path, and don’t underestimate the potential impact to your community.
When Was Hurricane Sara?
As of yet, there has not been a Hurricane Sara.
There may not be one this year either, since hurricane seasons sometimes fall several notches below 18 storms.
Where Did Hurricane Sara Hit?
No actual Hurricane Sara has made landfall, but if you look at an aggregate chart of the paths of other named storms, you can get an idea of the general range of such landfalls.
What Category Was Hurricane Sara?
With no Hurricane Sara on record, there is no category to report. But what does it mean when a category is applied? Again, the answer is based on wind speed.
- • A Category 1 hurricane has sustained wind speeds of at least 74 mph 10 meters above the ground surface when averaged over a 1-minute period.
- • A Category 1 designation holds up through 95 mph.
- • By the time you reach Category 5, those wind speeds are equal or greater than 157 mph.
- • There’s no top limit.
This evaluation system is called the Saffir-Simpson scale.
What Time Will Hurricane Sara Make Landfall?
If you research, “What time did Hurricane Sara make landfall?” you won’t find any data because there has yet to be a Hurricane Sara.
More importantly, there is no correlation between the landfall of a historic hurricane and when a current storm system might reach land.
No data from the past will help you prepare if Sara becomes a significant storm in 2024.
It’s wise to stay up to date on weather forecasts and be aware of a specific storm’s estimated landfall if a current storm is predicted to reach your region.
Thanks to satellite and radar imagery, those predictions can be very accurate, giving you plenty of time to prepare. Don’t make the mistake of waiting until the last minute to reach a safe area.
This article will be updated should more details about Sara become available in 2024.
How Many People Died in Hurricane Sara?
There is no Hurricane Sara on record, but the appearance of Sara on this year’s list is a reminder of the 147 people who lost their lives in 2012 to Hurricane Sandy.
What Was the Path of Hurricane Sara?
Should Sara develop into a hurricane this year, you’ll find a lot of daily information on its current path. In many cases, the beginning of such a path is in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa.
As that system moves west across the Atlantic, often in the general direction of the Caribbean, it can strengthen and organize into a tropical storm and then a hurricane.
Convoy of Hope & Hurricanes
Convoy of Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization serving the poor and hungry in dozens of program countries around the world.
Because natural disasters have such a deep and negative impact on communities, Convoy views disaster response as integral to its larger mission.
Food, water, and other key resources quickly become scarce following hurricanes and other disasters.
Convoy of Hope Disaster Services responds to natural disasters around the world — earthquakes, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and drought — offering help and hope to people facing some of the most challenging circumstances in their lives.
The nonprofit, faith-based organization pursues a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreach, and disaster response.
