Hurricane Miltonmade landfall last nighttime as a family 3 storm , causing destruction on Florida ’s west coast and leavingmillions without power .
For a abbreviated sentence , the vivid tempest was class 5 , with Fox 35 Orlando meteorologist Noah Bergrendescribing itas " approach the numerical demarcation of what Earth ’s atmosphere over this sea weewee can produce " .
In a NASA animation , the agency excuse how the storm came to be so strong .
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As explained by the quad authority , the storm underwent a " remarkable menses of rapid intensification " after imprint in the Bay of Campeche . breaking wind increased from 56 kilometer per minute ( 35 miles per hour ) to 257 km per hour ( 160 miles per 60 minutes ) in just 48 hours , as the key pressure fell dramatically .
" Milton ’s formation appears to have been influenced by the key American gyre , a seasonal area of humble - pressing centered over Central America that result in a large - weighing machine counterclockwise or cyclonic flow that can extend over the westerly Caribbean , southern Gulf of Mexico , include the Bay of Campeche , and far eastern Pacific , " NASA ’s Scientific Visualization Studio explained in anaccompanying mail service .
" After a trough of downhearted pressure circumvolve from the southeastern into the southwestern Gulf , electric storm activity begin to consolidate in the southwesterly Gulf in the Bay of Campeche . Persistent thunderstorm activity in this area then contribute to the formation of an arena of low air pressure , and by 10:00 am CDT on October 5th , the National Hurricane Center ( NHC ) determined that electrical storm activity associated with this first gear was sufficiently organized to be sort out a tropical depression . "
Monitoring the depression , NASA watched as it strengthened and became a hurricane . The establishment has kept a close eye on the large 10 - kilometer ( 6 - mile ) " towers " within the storm , as well as the intense surface rain .
" Together these argue intense thunderstorm activity is occur in the northern eyewall . This ensue in large amounts of heat energy being released into the core of the storm and is usually a good indication of further strengthening . "
Overall , the posture of the hurricane , and its intensification , were due to strange activity in the piddle below it .
" The hurricane ’s rapid intensification to a Category 5 was fueled by unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico,“NASA explainedon X , adding , " homo - driven thawing is linked to unassailable and more speedily intensifying hurricanes . "