Hurricane Milton’s rapid intensification highlights a troubling trend linked to climate change. The storm strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just over 24 hours.
In its last 36 hours, Milton’s transformation has been remarkable, as it experienced what experts call “extreme rapid intensification,” with maximum sustained wind speeds increasing by 90 mph in approximately 25 hours, according to Climate Central.
Rapid intensification is defined by the National Hurricane Center as a rise in sustained wind speeds of at least 35 mph within a 24-hour period. Milton far exceeded this threshold, underscoring the trend of increasingly powerful storms fueled by global warming.
Rising ocean temperatures and higher atmospheric moisture levels, driven by climate change, are providing the conditions necessary for storms to gain strength. Climate Central noted that “warming oceans, due to human-caused climate change, are fueling stronger tropical cyclones.”
Warm water and favorable atmospheric conditions act as energy sources for storms, allowing them to rapidly increase in speed and intensity. Additionally, a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, resulting in storms that produce significant rainfall and exacerbate flooding, making them more destructive overall.
As Hurricane Milton approaches landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday evening, it has been traveling over unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Much of the Gulf has exceeded 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with some areas reaching temperatures up to 4 degrees higher than normal, according to data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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