Palm Beach County news: 2024 Florida hurricane season; python hunt; West Palm growth

Looking for the top stories featured on the August 15 episode of our Palm Beach County News in 90 Seconds? See the story blurbs/links below.

Colorado State University changes forecast for 2024 Florida hurricane season in latest update

Colorado State University reduced the number of named storms it is predicting this hurricane season following a weekslong lull between Tropical Storm Chris and Hurricane Debby.

The revised forecast, which is still calling for a hyperactive season , was released Tuesday as part of CSU's regularly scheduled updates.

The seasonal forecast now calls for a total of 23 named storms, down from a July forecast of 25, including 12 hurricanes. Of the 12 hurricanes, six are forecast to be major storms of Category 3 strength or higher. The numbers include tropical storms Alberto and Chris and Hurricane Beryl.

An average hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Tap here for the full story

Participants from all over the country and Canada come for Florida Python Challenge this week

Florida’s Python Challenge began as a loosely planned scramble in the Everglades, an experiment in incentive-based extermination, a novelty that in subsequent years would help spawn reality TV shows, attract a rock star and entice celebrity chefs .

On Friday, August 9, more than a decade after the first Python Challenge was held, the event will launch another 10-day swamp safari that is more streamlined than in the early years and carries a bountiful $10,000 grand prize.

While some experienced hunters have called the challenge “hokey,” they acknowledge it keeps worldwide attention on Florida’s invasive Burmese python problem and musters hopeful hunters from throughout the country.

“The Python Challenge has a cult-like following,” said Marshall Jones, whose family owns Mack’s Fish Camp in western Broward County. “People travel from far and wide to come to it. They camp in tents, bring their RVs, all to catch one of these elusive slithering monsters.”

Tap here for the full story

West Palm Beach feels growing pains amid wealth influx as neighborhoods navigate change

The COVID pandemic fueled a historic migration of wealth to Palm Beach County. That influx of money is transforming the style, landscape, and fortunes of our area, with some communities more and more resembling the tony town of Palm Beach. The migration will bring changes and challenges. This is one part of a Palm Beach Post multi-part series titled The Palm Beaching Project . Go here for more stories in the series.

Sudden and brutal and beautiful came the change for West Palm Beach’s stately historic communities where post-pandemic affluence rampaged like a wrecking ball or waved like a magic wand.

World War II-era ranch-style houses have been razed in droves ; entire blocks transformed by sleek sophistication rising from the rubble of nostalgic cinderblock.

At the same time, century-old houses moldering like Miss Havisham’s in “Great Expectations” are being renovated into storied charmers — polished antiques on the outside humming with 21st century conveniences inside.

It’s part of the COVID - spurred money migration into the county, $7 billion in gross income in one year alone, according to one count. That influx of capital has spurred a residential renaissance in West Palm Beach, a 130-year-old town that has had two distinct building booms, first in the early 1920s and then the 1950s.

Tap here for the full story

Diamond Walker is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post , part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at dkwalker@gannett.com . Help support our journalism. Subscribe today

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County news: 2024 Florida hurricane season; python hunt; West Palm growth