When a hurricane rapidly intensifies...

Hurricane Milton jumped from a category 1 to a major category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours in October 2024. We hear about rapid intensification almost every hurricane season. What is it?

The WeatherRadar clearly showed Hurricane Milton's rapid intensification. But what is it?

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says rapid intensification occurs when the wind of a tropical system increases by 35 mph in 24 hours. The intensification can be faster and stronger; this is just the bare minimum. Rapid intensification is often accompanied by rapid deepening of a system’s central barometric pressure by at least 42 millibars.

The ingredients needed for rapid intensification include high sea surface temperatures, a deep pool of hot water and little change in the wind speeds, called wind shear, high in the atmosphere. Hurricane Milton had all of these ingredients to work with.

The most powerful hurricanes to hit the U.S. often go through rapid intensification. Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, including hurricanes Idalia, Michael and Katrina, rapidly intensified before landfall as they moved over the warm, energy-filled water of the southern and eastern Gulf of Mexico.