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 organized, and satellite imagery on 29 September showed that the disturbance had consolidated 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 240 km/h (150 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. As of January 2025, losses are at US$110 million according to AON.
Meteorological history
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) first forecast the possibility of tropical cyclogenesis in the eastern tropical Atlantic on 27 September. The next day, the NHC began monitoring a broad area of low pressure associated with a tropical wave producing limited shower activity west of Cabo Verde, noting that environmental conditions were favourable for development. As showers and thunderstorms associated with the disturbance became better organised, satellite imagery on 29 September revealed that the disturbance's circulation was becoming better defined. As a result, by 21:00 UTC that day, it developed into Tropical Depression Twelve. At that time, a prominent subtropical ridge to the depression's north steered the system westward. Organization was at first gradual as the depression continued to produce deep convection. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Kirk at 15:00 UTC on 30 September, with satellite microwave imagery from a few hours earlier indicating that a nascent core with a partial eyewall had formed. Shortly thereafter, Kirk's intensification paused, its structure improving little as it tracked west-northwest along the southwestern edge of the subtropical ridge. This pause was short-lived, with intensification resuming on 1 October as the storm's satellite presentation improved. Signs of dry air on Kirk's western flank remained apparent, possibly introduced by some northerly mid-level wind shear. Kirk's structure continued to improve on microwave imagery, and the storm intensified to a Category 1 hurricane at 21:00 UTC that day. After an intrusion of dry air briefly interrupted further intensification, continued improvements to Kirk's structure signalled a resumption in strengthening throughout 2 October. Kirk then initiated an episode of rapid intensification, becoming a Category 3 hurricane at 00:00 UTC on 3 October, with satellite imagery displaying a ragged eye surrounded by multiple rotating convective bursts. Soon after, yet another intrusion of dry air halted this period of rapid intensification, causing Kirk to weaken slightly. This disruption was also short-lived, as the hurricane's structure quickly recovered, and by 21:00 UTC that day Kirk strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane. Kirk then strengthened to its peak intensity early on 4 October, with sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 928 mbar (27.4 inHg); the NHC noted a well-defined circular eye 37 km (23 mi) wide surrounded by a ring of deep convection. Soon after, microwave imagery suggested an eyewall replacement cycle had initiated, causing the hurricane to begin weakening. As an outer convective band wrapped around the eyewall, Kirk's eye became cloud-filled and its cloud tops warmed. Southwesterly shear and intrusions of dry air additionally contributed to weakening, with Kirk falling to Category 3 intensity at 09:00 UTC on 5 October. At the same time, the hurricane began a northward turn, influenced by a shortwave trough placed over the west-central Atlantic and the subtropical ridge to its east. Kirk then weakened further to Category 2 intensity 24 hours later under the effects of increasing southwesterly shear, the vertical structure of its core becoming disrupted as a result. Another 12 hours later, at 21:00 UTC on 6 October, Kirk weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, with the NHC noting that its extratropical transition had begun. Tracking over cooler waters as it progressed through its extratropical transition, the NHC noted that Kirk's core had rapidly degraded, and by 19:00 UTC on 7 October, it had completed its transition to an extratropical cyclone as it tracked east-northeast over the northeastern Atlantic. The extratropical cyclone then passed north of the Azores, before moving towards the west coast of France and Western Europe. The system weakened as it progressed towards Sweden.
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