Hurricane Milton
Hurricane Milton was an extremely powerful and destructive tropical cyclone which caused major damage and fatalities in Florida in October 2024, it became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico, tying with Hurricane Rita in 2005. Milton significantly impacted the west coast of the U.S. state of Florida, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the state's Big Bend region; further exacerbating damage and hindering clean-up efforts in previously affected regions. The thirteenth named storm, ninth hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the extremely active 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Milton was the strongest tropical cyclone to occur worldwide in 2024. The hurricane also spawned a deadly tornado outbreak in one of the most intense tropical cyclone-produced outbreaks recorded. Total damages as a result of Milton were estimated to be $34.3 billion, making it the ninth-costliest Atlantic hurricane on record.
Milton formed from a complex of factors, beginning with a long-tracked tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa in mid-September 2024. After reaching the western Caribbean Sea and interacting with a broad Central American gyre, it then consolidated in the Bay of Campeche and became a tropical depression on October 5, becoming a tropical storm shortly after. Gradual intensification occurred as it slowly moved eastward, becoming a hurricane early on October 7. Later that day, Milton underwent explosive intensification and became a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 180 mph. At peak intensity, it had a pressure of, making it, at the time, the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, tying the pressure record in the Gulf of Mexico with Rita in 2005. Milton weakened to a Category 4 hurricane after an eyewall replacement cycle and reintensified into a Category 5 hurricane the following day. Increasing wind shear caused the hurricane to weaken as it turned northeast towards Florida, falling to Category 3 status before making landfall near Siesta Key late on October 9. Afterwards, Milton rapidly weakened as it moved across the state into the Atlantic Ocean. It became extratropical on October 10 as it became embedded within a frontal zone. The remnants gradually weakened and passed near the island of Bermuda before becoming indistinguishable and dissipating on October 12.
The hurricane killed a total of 45 people: 42 in the United States, and 3 in Mexico as Milton passed north of there, where preparations were taken due to its close proximity. Damage caused in Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula wasn't as severe, with flooding and heavy rainfall being the primary impacts. Ahead of Milton, Florida declared a state of emergency in which many coastal residents were ordered to evacuate. Cleanup efforts from Helene over a week prior were affected in order to ensure the safety of citizens. Milton brought a major storm surge of up to to areas just to the south of the Tampa Bay, including Siesta Key; due to the southward track, the Tampa metropolitan area avoided a worst-case scenario, and instead observed a reverse storm surge. High wind gusts and very heavy rainfall caused significant flooding and infrastructural damage across central Florida, particularly near Tampa and around the point of landfall, where most damage from Milton occurred. In the aftermath of the storm, partially as a result of the proximity to the 2024 United States presidential election in November and clean-up efforts from Helene, misinformation spread across affected communities about the nature of the storms and about rescue operations conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Meteorological history
The origins of Milton were complex and involved several areas of low pressure during the second half of September and beginning of October 2024. A tropical wave first moved off the western coast of Africa on September 14 with little convection and moved very slowly westward. The wave then interacted with two other disturbances to its west near the Cabo Verde Islands on September 18, still with little to no convection, with the combined system becoming slightly better organized by September 22. By September 26, as the wave passed through the Lesser Antilles, the National Hurricane Center began outlining an area for possible development of the disturbance once it reached the western Caribbean Sea. The wave then interacted with a Central American gyre, a broad area of low pressure centered over Central America–which earlier had contributed to the formations of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane John in the Eastern Pacific–before the combined system degenerated to a broad trough on October 1. The southern end of this disturbance then interacted with the remnants of an unnamed tropical storm in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and a stationary front, and consolidated in the Bay of Campeche. By October 4, showing more signs of development, it was designated Invest 92L. Continued organization led to the formation of a tropical depression by 12:00 UTC on October 5, about east of Tampico, Mexico. Satellite wind data indicated the storm was producing gale-force winds six hours later, leading the NHC to upgrade the system to Tropical Storm Milton. Milton's radius of tropical storm-force winds was only, marking it as a relatively small storm.Milton initially moved slowly northwards, before further poleward movement ceased as a result of a ridge of high pressure building to its north and the development of a frontal low along the aforementioned front in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Spiral banding and consistent bursts of convection continued through the early morning of October 6, fostering further strengthening. By that afternoon, Hurricane Hunters had found that Milton had intensified into a hurricane, with an intermittent eye feature. At this point, almost all tropical cyclone forecast models, including the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme were explicitly forecasting very high chances of rapid strengthening to high-end intensities, with NHC forecaster Eric Blake describing the guidance as "bullish as seen in this part of the basin." Overnight, Milton commenced a period of explosive intensification, enabled by highly favorable environmental conditions consisting of very warm sea surface temperatures near, high mid-level relative humidity values and low wind shear. A pinhole eye measuring soon developed within very deep convection of around, with Milton becoming a major hurricane by 11:00 UTC on October 7 and soon after a Category 5 hurricane by 16:00 UTC on October 7, making it the second Category 5 hurricane of the season. At one point during this period, Hurricane Hunters measured a drop, from to in only an hour. Based on the continued extreme intensification rate and later data, it is estimated Milton reached its peak intensity at 20:00 UTC that day with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central pressure of, the most intense since Wilma in 2005, and tied with Hurricane Rita as the fifth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. However, in their post-analysis report, the NHC stated that this intensity had a greater than normal degree of uncertainty. In the 17-hour period from 03:00 UTC to 20:00 UTC October 7, the pressure fell from to, a drop of, while the winds increased by in the same time period. This was also the third-fastest period of rapid intensification in the Atlantic after Wilma and Hurricane Felix, and the fastest in the Gulf of Mexico.
File:Iss072e029127 --- Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm at the time of this photograph, is pictured in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula from the International Space Station as it orbi.jpg|thumb|left|Hurricane Milton near the Yucatán Peninsula from the International Space Station on October 8
After peaking in intensity, further strengthening was halted by an eyewall replacement cycle, causing the storm to rapidly weaken to Category 4 intensity later that night, but a larger eye became increasingly well-defined, and Milton re-achieved Category 5 intensity by the afternoon of October 8, by which time the hurricane had undergone a second round of rapid deepening to a secondary peak with winds of 165 mph and a pressure of at 22:05 UTC on October 8. By this time, it began to turn towards the northeast and accelerate from the trough steering it towards Florida. The next day, October 9, Milton briefly weakened to a Category 4 hurricane before reaching Category 5 intensity for the third time at 08:25 UTC, with maximum winds of 160 mph and a pressure of. A few hours later, increasing wind shear began to affect Milton, and the storm fell below Category 5 intensity early that morning. The eye of the hurricane became cloud-filled and increasingly ill-defined while the convection became more ragged-looking as strong southwesterly wind shear of overtook the hurricane. Milton made landfall at about 00:30 UTC on October 10 near Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of. Milton quickly weakened over land and emerged over the Atlantic Ocean as a Category 1 hurricane while also becoming increasingly entangled within a nearby frontal boundary. On the afternoon of October 10, it transitioned to a hurricane-force extratropical low; and proceeded to gradually spin down and become increasingly diffuse as it passed near Bermuda, dissipating early on October 12.