Hurricane Milton grew in strength in a 'remarkably short time'

As Florida reels from its second hurricane in under a week, an expert reveals Hurricane Milton surged to Category 5 in "record time."

"Milton was far from the most powerful Atlantic storm," Mark Bourassa, Associate Director of the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) at the Florida State University, told TRT World.

"It did grow to a Category 5 storm in a remarkably short time," he said, adding that the hurricane had a lot of energy from the ocean and "enough factors helping it form to overcome the factors making it less likely to form."

Bourassa also explained that the formation of Hurricane Milton was the regular process of the formation of any hurricane, plus, the absence of factors that could stop it from being a tropical cyclone.

"Requirements for formation are, first, a source of energy from warm enough water; second, rotating winds aloft like those in a low-pressure system; third, enough moisture in the air from the surface through mid-level of the atmosphere; fourth, the absence of factors that would prevent organisation into a tropical cyclone," Bourassa said.

He added that the hurricane was more dangerous to areas of Florida's coast because of "the direction and speed of travel, the very high wind speed for more time before landfall, and the location of landfall."

"Milton's location of landfall, in a more populous part of Florida, is also a big factor," he said.

"It's still awful for the home and business owners in the less populated areas, but impacting a lot more people near the coast does make a big difference in the total impacts to people."

Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday after Hurricane Helene laid waste to the state and killed at least 230 people.

So far, Hurricane Milton has killed at least five people and left around 3 million without power.

Since the creation of the Saffir/Simpson scale in 1851, at least 41 percent of the total number of hurricanes that hit the US have also hit Florida. The Saffir/Simpson scale is a 1 to 5 wind rating that also estimates potential property damage.

According to the scale, a Category 5 storm means the hurricane will sustain at least 156 mph wind or stronger, which indicates that catastrophic damage might happen, such was the case with Helene and currently with Milton.

The Florida Climate Center says the state is almost always vulnerable to hurricanes during the six-month-long Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 until November 30.

Some of the major hurricanes that hit Florida in recent years include Hurricane Debby in 2024, Hurricane Idalia in 2023, Hurricane Nicole and Ian in 2022, Hurricane Sally in 2020 and Hurricane Michael in 2018, the strongest in recent years.