Milton was a Category 1 hurricane that formed in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday afternoon ET, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.
The hurricane had sustained wind speeds of 130 miles per hour.
Where does it rain?
Flash flooding can also occur inland, far from the center of the storm. Even weak storms can produce excessive rainfall, potentially flooding low-lying areas.
What does a storm look like from above?
Satellite imagery helps determine storm strength, size, and connectivity. The stronger the storm, the more likely it is that an eye will form in the center. If the eye looks symmetrical, that often means the storm isn’t encountering anything to dampen it.
Milton is the 13th named storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean in 2024.
In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that there would be 17 to 25 named storms this year, more than usual.
This season follows a very active year with 20 named storms. This includes an early storm that was later given the official name “Unnamed.” This is the eighth year in a row that the 14 named storms have exceeded the average. Hurricane Idalia was the only one to make landfall in the United States.
Normally, the El Niño pattern that occurred last season would have suppressed hurricanes and reduced the number of storms during the season. But in 2023, warmer waters in the Atlantic Ocean slowed El Niño’s normal effectiveness in blocking storms.
The warm ocean temperatures that powered last season returned to warmer waters early this season, increasing forecasters’ confidence that more storms will form this year. Rising sea surface temperatures may also cause storms to intensify more quickly than usual.
To make matters worse, the El Niño pattern that existed last year has also diminished, likely creating an atmosphere favorable to storm formation and intensification.
Hurricanes require calm conditions to form, and a strong El Niño occurs in the Atlantic Ocean, increasing the amount of wind shear (changes in wind speed and direction with height) and disrupting the ability of storms to coalesce. With no El Niño this year, clouds are more likely to rise to the heights needed to sustain a powerful cyclone.