Weather is weird. One week you’re staring at a massive hurricane barreling toward the Gulf Coast, and the next, you're tracking something like Tropical Storm Gordon 2024, which basically decided to spend its entire life wandering around the middle of the Atlantic Ocean like a lost tourist.
It was mid-September. The peak of the season. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasters were busy, staring at a cluster of thunderstorms moving off the coast of Africa. For a hot second, it looked like Gordon might become a real problem. Instead? It became a bit of a "zombie storm." It formed, it struggled, it withered, and then it kind of refused to die for a while.
If you were expecting a catastrophic landfall story, you won't find it here. But if you want to understand how dry air and wind shear can absolutely castrate a tropical system, Gordon is the perfect case study. It’s also a reminder that sometimes, the "quiet" storms tell us more about the atmosphere than the monsters do.
What Really Happened With Tropical Storm Gordon 2024?
Gordon officially became a named storm on September 13, 2024. It was the seventh named storm of a season that many meteorologists—including those at Colorado State University—had predicted would be "extremely active."
The storm didn't have it easy. Right from the jump, Gordon ran into two major enemies: Saharan dust and wind shear. Think of a tropical storm like a delicate engine. It needs warm, moist air to fire up. Gordon, however, was sucking in dry, dusty air from the Sahara Desert. This basically acts like a fire extinguisher on the storm's core.
By September 16, Gordon had been downgraded to a tropical depression. It was struggling. Forecasters at the NHC, led by specialists like Dr. Michael Brennan, kept a close eye on it because the environment ahead looked slightly more favorable. There was this weird period where the storm was just a "remnant low," a swirl of clouds without much punch.
The Struggle for Survival in the Open Atlantic
Most people ignore storms that stay in the "Main Development Region" (MDR) between Africa and the Caribbean. If it's not hitting a beach, it's not news, right? Not exactly.
The interesting thing about Tropical Storm Gordon 2024 was its persistence. Even when it looked like a disorganized mess on satellite imagery, the low-level circulation stayed intact. It was like a marathon runner who’s completely out of breath but refuses to sit down.
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While it did eventually regain some strength, it never reached hurricane status. It peaked with maximum sustained winds of roughly 45 mph. That’s barely a tropical storm. For comparison, a Category 1 hurricane starts at 74 mph. Gordon was basically a glorified windy rain shower in the middle of nowhere.
Why Gordon Was Such a Headache for Forecasters
Predicting intensity is way harder than predicting a storm's path. We’ve gotten really good at saying where a storm will go, but we still struggle with how strong it will get.
Gordon was a prime example of this struggle. Some computer models, like the GFS (the American model), suggested Gordon would find a pocket of moist air and intensify. Others, like the European (ECMWF) model, were much more pessimistic.
The reality? The dry air was just too much.
- Environmental Factors: The storm was surrounded by "stable" air.
- Vertical Wind Shear: Strong winds at higher altitudes were literally tilting the storm, preventing the heat from concentrating in the center.
- Sea Surface Temperatures: While the water was warm enough (about 80°F or 27°C), the air above it was too dry to sustain the "engine."
It’s easy to look back and say it was a dud. But at the time, there was genuine concern that if Gordon cleared the dry air, it could have been a threat to the Leeward Islands or eventually the U.S. East Coast. Fortunately, the atmospheric defenses held.
The Role of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL)
You've probably heard weather folks talk about "the dust." This is the Saharan Air Layer. It’s a mass of very dry, dusty air that forms over the Sahara Desert and moves across the Atlantic.
In 2024, the SAL was particularly active during Gordon's lifespan. You can actually see this on satellite—it looks like a tan or milky haze surrounding the bright white clouds of the storm. Because Tropical Storm Gordon 2024 was relatively small, it didn't have the "moat" of moisture needed to protect itself. It got swallowed by the dust.
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This is actually a good thing for people living on the coast. These dust outbreaks are like a natural shield. Without them, Gordon might have had the room to breathe and grow into something much nastier.
Misconceptions About the 2024 Season
There’s a common myth that if a storm doesn't hit land, it "doesn't count." Or that the 2024 season was a "bust" because of storms like Gordon.
Honestly? That’s just not true.
The 2024 season eventually saw heavy hitters like Helene and Milton. Gordon was just a pause in the action. It represented a phase of the season where the large-scale atmospheric patterns were actually working against storm development. Meteorologists look at something called the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)—basically a wave of energy that circles the globe. When the MJO is in a "suppressed" phase over the Atlantic, even the best-looking tropical waves will struggle to become the next Gordon.
Tracking a "Fish Storm"
Why do we care about a storm that only bothers fish?
Data. Every time a plane flies through a storm like this, or a satellite captures its struggle, we get better at modeling the next one. Tropical Storm Gordon 2024 provided a wealth of data on how dry air interacts with weak tropical cyclones.
This data is used to tweak the algorithms in models like the HWRF (Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting). If we can understand why Gordon didn't explode into a Category 4, we can better predict when the next storm will.
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It’s about the science of the "null case." In science, knowing why something didn't happen is often just as valuable as knowing why it did.
Lessons From the Life of Gordon
By the time Gordon finally dissipated for good in the central Atlantic, it had traveled thousands of miles. It never prompted a single coastal warning. It never caused a dollar of property damage.
But it served as a reality check.
- Don't ignore the MDR: Just because a storm is near Africa doesn't mean it's irrelevant.
- Dry air is king: Moisture is the fuel for these storms. No fuel, no fire.
- Model consensus matters: When the major models disagree as much as they did with Gordon, it’s a sign of a "low confidence" forecast.
What You Should Do Now
Even though Gordon was a non-event for land, hurricane season happens every year. The behavior of Tropical Storm Gordon 2024 shows that the atmosphere can change quickly.
If you live in a hurricane-prone area, don't let "dud" storms like Gordon lure you into a false sense of security. Use the quiet periods to audit your supplies. Check your flashlights. Make sure your insurance policy is up to date and actually covers flood damage (most standard policies don't).
Stay informed by following the National Hurricane Center directly rather than relying on sensationalist "clickbait" weather channels. The NHC provides the most sober, data-driven analysis available. Understand the difference between a "cone of uncertainty" and a specific landfall point.
The best way to handle hurricane season isn't to panic when a storm forms, but to be so prepared that a storm like Gordon—or even something much worse—doesn't catch you off guard. Monitor the Atlantic's tropical waves, keep an eye on the Saharan dust levels, and always have a plan in place long before the first name is even assigned to a tropical depression.