OR&R Completes 2023 Hurricane Season After-Action Report for the National Ocean Service
APRIL 8, 2024 — After hurricane season came to an end on November 30, 2023, OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) started continuous improvement efforts to prepare for the 2024 season. Every year, OR&R leads the National Ocean Service (NOS) Incident Management Team (IMT) through a hotwash review following the season. Staff were able to express what went well, what could be improved, and record any additional lessons that were learned. These discussions are collected and summarized into an After-Action Report and Improvement Plan that is used to spread awareness regarding lessons learned and identify areas for future improvement.
The 2023 hurricane season was active, with an above average number of named storms. In fact, the 2023 hurricane season ranked fourth for most-named storms in a year since 1950. The season consisted of 20 named storms in the Atlantic. In addition there was a strong El Niño present throughout the entirety of this hurricane season, which typically indicates a below average number of named storms. Howeverm this was not true for the 2023 hurricane season. There was an unusually warm sea-surface temperatures in the Atlantic in 2023 aiding in an above average number of storms, and the most named storms of any El Niño season on record. Despite this, there was only one U.S. landfalling hurricane in 2023. Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a category 3 hurricane on August 30 near Keaton Beach, Florida.
The eastern Pacific basin was also above normal with 17 named storms. The most notable of these were Tropical Storm Hilary and Hurricane Otis. The central Pacific basin had a near-normal season with four tropical systems, of which Hurricane Dora was the most notable.
The 2023 NOS Hurricane Season After-Action Report, which is available to NOAA staff on the NOS Disaster Coordination Dashboard, is designed to relay key findings and establish action items to complete prior to the next hurricane season. Action items regarding more training opportunities and further communication between the Incident Management Team, Leadership, and those within NOS were identified. The NOS 2023 Hurricane Season After-Action Report is specifically focused on NOS disaster operations and is intended for internal use only.