Tropical Storm Alberto (2024)

Tropical Storm Alberto, also known as the Leap Day Storm, was a rare and unusual tropical cyclone that made landfall in South Florida in late February 2024.

Meteorological History
On February 24, the NHC began monitoring a non-tropical cyclone in the central subtropical Atlantic for possible tropical or subtropical cyclogenesis as it moved west-southwestward. Due to unusually warm water temperatures and minimal wind shear, the convection began to coalesce around the center of the storm. On February 28 at 00:00 UTC, the NHC began issuing advisories for Tropical Depression One, located southeast of the Bahamas, although post-season analysis found it formed the previous day, 6 hours earlier. At 12:00 UTC on February 28, a Hurricane Hunters aircraft identified a wind speed of 40 kt at the center of the storm, supporting an upgrade to tropical storm status; the storm was named "Alberto." Alberto then underwent a brief period of rapid intensification; by 06:00 UTC on February 29, winds at the center of Alberto had reached 65 mph. Alberto was originally expected to remain a weak tropical storm, but defied the predictions. However, one model - the CMC model - forecast Alberto could become a very rare February hurricane. This did not happen, as weakening began with Alberto as it moved over South Florida. Early on March 1, Alberto was downgraded to a tropical depression. Due to high wind shear and marginal sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, Alberto dissipated at 18:00 UTC on March 1 into a remnant low. The remnants of Alberto brought light rain to the Panhandle of Florida on March 3.

Impact
Alberto would cause 7 total fatalities, 6 of which were in Florida and 1 of which was in the Bahamas. It was compared to the Groundhog Day Storm of 1952, which also made landfall in Florida in February.