In 2023, NOAA declared it the warmest year on record since 1850 when record keeping began, spotlighting a concerning trend in global temperatures. The outlook for 2024 suggests a one-in-three chance of surpassing this record heat, with a 99% likelihood of it being among the top five warmest years on record. Upper-ocean heat content was record high while Antarctic sea ice was record low. Moreover, despite a lower than average number of named tropical storms globally (78 storms), there were 20 named storms in the North Atlantic, which was well above average.