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The Sarasota-based Climate Adaptation Center will release its 2024 hurricane forecast during a first-ever Hurricane Day event at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee on April 4.
Bob Bunting, CEO of the Climate Adaptation Center, said he does not know what the forecast will show but current conditions, like ocean water temperatures and the disappearance of the El Niño climate pattern, suggest it will be another busy season. The Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
“We are going to have pay close attention this year,” Bunting said. “The trends heading into spring are super negative.”
Tickets are currently on sale for the Hurricane Day event, which will be from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Selby Auditorium, on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, 8315 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. USF faculty, staff and students can attend for free and the event will be livestreamed. Visit the Climate Adaptation Center’s website for tickets and other information. You can also email info@theclimateadaptationcenter.org.
Bunting said the event is for anyone in the public interested in hurricanes and related topics. Scheduled speakers during the event include:
- Rick Kearbey, the Climate Adaptation Center’s senior scientist, who will discuss the lessons learned from three recent “I” hurricanes that affected southwest Florida: Irma (2017), Ian (2022) and Idalia (2023).
- Bunting, who will discuss what large storms last year in the eastern Pacific might mean for Florida in 2024 and deliver the CAC 2024 Season Hurricane Forecast with the outlook for the West Coast of Florida.
- Tom Lewis, president of Tidal Basin Inc., an emergency management service company, will discuss how to lower the increasing risks to infrastructure through investments. Lewis also is a director of the Climate Adaptation Center.
- Guillermo Franco, managing director and global head of catastrophic risk research for the Guy Carpenter reinsurance firm, who will discuss “innovations in insurance driven by a warming climate.”
Audience members will be able to ask questions as part of each session. The moderator will be Elizabeth Moore, a founding director of the Climate Adaptation Center.
Sponsors for the Hurricane Day are USF Sarasota-Manatee, Tommy’s Express Car Wash, Sarasota magazine and WUSF Public Media.
The Climate Adaptation Center Inc. founded in 2019, is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Sarasota. Its mission is to bridge the gap between the latest scientific research and the public’s understanding of the changing climate and how it impacts where the public lives.