It has dropped... It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours. Um, I apologize. This is just horrific. So what does that mean and why is it so terrible? Welcome back to What the Science, Hurricane Edition. Have you ever watched steam rise from a hot cup of coffee or cocoa on a chilly day? It rises because the hot air is less dense and therefore lighter than they're. air around it, like an old hot air balloon. Now imagine the ocean as that cup. When the tropical sun heats the water to above 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 Celsius, it causes the air just above the surface to get hot and rise up, leaving a lower pressure zone at the surface of the water, which then sucks in the air from all the surroundings to fill in the gap. Like when you suck the air out of a bottle with your mouth, and then the bottle sucks your tongue right back. But this is happening over hundreds of miles, and when all that surrounding air rushes in to fill the gap, it gets affected by the rotation of the earth. which causes it to spin. It's called the Coriola's effect, and it's why hurricane spin in different directions on the north or southern hemisphere. And as that hot, moist air rises, it also cools, releasing its water to form clouds and rain, which then gets caught up in that circling wind. The closer the spinning air gets to the center, the faster it goes, just like an ice skater speeding up when they pull in their arms. The closer the spinning air gets to the center, the faster it goes. And when the wind is moving faster over the water, it causes more evaporation, which causes drop and therefore larger and faster spinning winds and the whole cycle just escalates. A terrifying feedback loop. Hurricane Milton turned into a category 5 when it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, which right now has record warm temperatures, aka hurricane steroids. It has dropped 50 milibars in 10 hours. Millibars are a unit of pressure. And normally if a hurricane drops by 35 millibars in 24 hours, that's called rapid intensification. So 50 milibars and only 10 hours is almost 3.5 to 10 hours. times as rapid and that is scary. It's now a category four with 155 mile per hour wins. If you're in the path, I hope you stay safe.
Additional notes
Replying to @Samuel 🧬How Hurricanes Form: The Quick Version When the tropical sun heats the ocean’s surface above 80˚ (or 27˚ C), it causes the air just above the surface to heat up and rise, leaving a lower pressure zone near the water’s surface, which sucks in surrounding air to fill the gap. Like when you suck air out of a bottle and it sucks your tongue right back. But this is happening over hundreds of miles, and when the surrounding air rushes in to fill the gap, the ROTATION OF THE EARTH causes that air to spin–called the Coriolis effect. As that moist hot air rises it cools, releasing water to form clouds and rain, which get caught up in the spinning winds. The closer the spinning air gets to the center, the faster it goes, just like an ice skater speeding up when they pull their arms in (conservation of angular momemtum) And when wind is moving fast over water, it causes MORE evaporation, a stronger updraft, and an even bigger pressure drop, which pulls air in even faster, and so on. A terrifying feedback loop. Hurricane milton turned into a category 5 when it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, which now has record warm ocean temperatures–a.k.a. hurricane steroids. Mbar is a measure of pressure, and if a hurricane drops by 35 mbars in 24 hours that’s called “Rapid intensification.” 50 in 10 hours is almost 3.5 times faster than that! Video Credits: @besmart on YT @scijinks @realscience #stitch with @Dylan Page NOAA-GOES-Image Viewer #science #hurricane #hurricanemilton
References
- Video credits listed in caption: @besmart on YouTube, @scijinks, @realscience, and stitch with @Dylan Page.
- Source named in caption: NOAA-GOES Image Viewer.