![]() “Climate change is increasing both the maximum intensity that these storms can achieve, and the rate of intensification that can bring them to this maximum,” Jim Kossin, a senior scientist at the Climate Service, previously told CNN. This rapid intensification – a hurricane’s winds strengthening rapidly over a short amount of time – is something scientists say is historically rare but is becoming more likely as ocean temperatures increase, giving hurricanes more fuel to strengthen. When Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday with maximum winds of 150 mph, it tied 2004’s Hurricane Charley as the strongest storm to make landfall on the west coast of the Florida Peninsula. The storm’s maximum wind speed increased by 35 mph in less than three hours, going from a Category 3 to a strong Category 4 in the process.ĭespite being squarely in hurricane territory, major hurricanes – Category 3 or stronger – are uncommon for this part of Florida. Hurricane Ian strengthened rapidly Wednesday morning as it approached Florida. It’s also making storms stronger and pushing them to intensify faster. Scientists are very confident that climate change is increasing rainfall rates – how hard the rain is falling – and the amount of rain a storm can produce. “Climate change didn’t cause the storm but it did cause it to be wetter,” Wehner said. He also cautioned that their result is a “conservative estimate.” “This means that the storms are more efficient at precipitating the available moisture,” Wehner said in a statement. Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley who ran the analysis, noted that the physical relationship between air temperature and water vapor would suggest that Hurricane Ian’s rainfall should have only been around 5% higher due to climate warming. The analysis used the same methodology as a recent peer-reviewed study that looked at the influence of climate change on the 2020 hurricane season. Hurricane Ian’s rainfall was at least 10% wetter because of climate change, according to a rapid analysis released Thursday by scientists at Stony Brook University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Several other locations likely experienced 1,000-year flood events based on radar estimates, including Winter Park (12 inches in 12 hours) North Port (14 inches in 12 hours) and Myakka City (14 inches in 12 hours). ![]() Lake Wales, which is east of Tampa in central Florida, reported nearly 17 inches of rain within 24 hours, exceeding its 1,000-year rain event of 16.8 inches.This exceeds the city’s 1-in-1,000-year rain event of 14.0 inches. ![]() Placida – just north of where the hurricane’s eye made landfall – received more than 15 inches of rain over the course of 12 hours on Wednesday.
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