How Hurricane Milton Became a Category 5 Storm in Less Than 24 Hours

Hurricane play isn’t done with Florida, arsenic the 2nd large hurricane successful arsenic galore weeks is acceptable to marque landfall and interruption records connected the peninsular authorities successful the coming days.

The tempest is Hurricane Milton, which surged to Category 5 presumption this morning. It was archetypal classified arsenic a hurricane yesterday astatine 2 p.m. ET. By this morning, it was inactive a Category 1, but rapidly intensified—upgraded to Category 2 by 5 a.m. ET, Category 3 by 7 a.m., and Category 4 by 9 a.m. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter craft recorded information astir 11:55 a.m., showing Hurricane Milton had reached winds implicit 160 miles per hr (257 km/h), making it 1 of the fastest-intensifying hurricanes connected record, conscionable down storms Wilma (2005) and Felix (2007).

Category 5 storms are the highest strength connected the Saffir-Simpson hurricane upwind scale; to beryllium a Category 5 storm, a strategy indispensable execute upwind speeds greater than 157 miles per hr (253 kilometers per hour), though the tempest is expected to driblet to a Category 3 tempest by the clip it makes landfall. That said, a Category 3 tempest is nary locomotion successful the park. According to the National Weather Service, if the tempest stays connected way it volition beryllium “the worst tempest to interaction the Tampa country successful implicit 100 years,” bringing winds exceeding 110 miles per hr and tempest surge exceeding 9 feet to the metropolis of 400,000 people.

In a peculiar advisory posted this morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned of “life-threatening tempest surge and damaging winds” on the occidental seashore of Florida starting betwixt Tuesday nighttime and Wednesday morning. In an advisory posted aboriginal this morning, NOAA added that dense rainfall would apt interaction Florida today—well earlier the strategy makes landfall—and volition bring the hazard of sizeable flooding.

Hurricane Milton approaches Florida’s westbound outgo conscionable implicit a week aft Hurricane Helene slammed into the state’s Big Bend. Hurricane Helene made landfall arsenic a Category 4 tempest that ultimately carved done Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, bringing wide flooding, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, and causing the deaths of implicit 200 people. Helene besides became a lightning rod for conspiracy theorists; you tin expect akin claims astir Hurricane Milton.

Major hurricanes affecting the Gulf States is thing new, but much-warmer-than-average water temperatures are a breeding crushed for much aggravated storms. Earlier this year, NOAA and Colorado State University forecast betwixt 17 and 25 named storms for the season, up from humanities averages. Milton is the thirteenth named tempest of the season, which doesn’t extremity until November 30.

Graphic: NOAA

According to the astir caller NOAA release, determination is hazard of mean flash flooding arsenic acold southbound arsenic the extremity of Florida and arsenic acold northbound arsenic southeastern Georgia. There is simply a marginal hazard of flash flooding arsenic acold northbound arsenic Charleston, South Carolina and astir arsenic acold westbound arsenic Tallahassee.

Milton is presently raking the bluish extremity of Mexico’s Yucatán, aft which it is projected to illustration a northeasterly people towards Tampa. Milton is expected to marque landfall successful Florida Wednesday nighttime and volition instrumentality little than 12 hours to transverse implicit the authorities and caput eastbound into the Atlantic Ocean.