Hurricane Milton on October 7, 2024.
- NOAA
2 min to read
Justin Mitchell
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a powerful Category 5 storm in less than 24 hours, making it the strongest hurricane to form this late in the Atlantic season in history.
With maximum winds Monday afternoon of 180 mph, the storm is barreling toward Florida's west coast. Hurricane watches are in effect for much of the Florida Peninsula— including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Venice and Fort Myers.
Milton is expected strengthen even further before weakening some as it hits wind shear but still make landfall as a major hurricane. Residents should prepare for strong winds, heavy rain and life-threatening storm surge of up to 15 feet in some areas.
As the storm shattered records and rapidly intensified, it also got better organized and a tiny, pinhole eye emerged.
But don't let the size of the eye fool you— it could be very telling at just how bad the storm will be.
What is a 'pinhole' eye and is it dangerous?
Compact hurricanes with a smaller eye field are often described as having "pinhole" eyes, said Payton Malone, a meteorologist at WWL Louisiana.
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Milton's eye was just 8 miles across, and that is indicative of the storm's record-breaking rapid intensification.
"The thing about small eyes and small cores is that the smaller it is, the faster they can go up and down in intensity," Malone said.
#Milton's max winds of 175 mph are the strongest for a #hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this late in the calendar year on record. The latest calendar year Atlantic #hurricane with max winds of 175+ mph prior to Milton was Rita (22 September 2005). pic.twitter.com/lDLsxsPct9
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) October 7, 2024
In Milton's case, the warm water, low wind shear and compact size of the eye helped the storm get stronger Monday afternoon.
"It can really dramatically jump in either direction," Malone said. "In this case, it's dramatically increasing at record pace."
Only two other storms in history— Wilma and Felix—have rapidly intensified as the same rate as Milton, according to data from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Eyes can fluctuate in size
By 4 p.m., the eye was more distinct, with radar data showing a "small, closed eye with a very strong eyewall presentation," National Hurricane Center forecaster Eric Blake said.
But as long as Milton is over water, it will undergo several eyewall replacements, Malone said.
An eyewall replacement can change the size of the eye and lead to weakening. Re-strengthening could occur, but the cycle could repeat itself in the next replacement, Malone said.
Milton's eye could get larger in a replacement cycle, and the storm could still weaken when it meets wind shear on Tuesday or Wednesday. Milton, now compact with a super powerful eye wall, is expected to also grow in size when it hits the shear.
"We hope toward Wednesday it will weaken briefly, but storm and eye should get larger," Malone said.
#Milton's max winds of 175 mph are the strongest for a #hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this late in the calendar year on record. The latest calendar year Atlantic #hurricane with max winds of 175+ mph prior to Milton was Rita (22 September 2005). pic.twitter.com/lDLsxsPct9
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) October 7, 2024
Regardless of size or wind speed at landfall, the storm is still expected to bring catastrophic effects to Florida, forecasters have said.
What other storms have had pinhole eyes like Milton?
Milton isn't the only record-breaking storm to have a 'pinhole' eye that rapidly intensified in the Gulf.
In 2005, Hurricane Wilma's pinhole eye was evident as it strengthened over warm waters in one of the most active hurricane seasons in history.
At 6:30am on October 24, 2005, Category 3 Hurricane #Wilma made landfall in southwest Florida. It briefly weakened to an upper-end Cat2 over the peninsula, then regained Cat3 intensity over the Atlantic. [1/3] pic.twitter.com/ja1XuNdrgq
— Brian McNoldy (@BMcNoldy) October 24, 2023
Wilma holds the record as having the lowest pressure of any hurricane that's formed in the Atlantic basin at 882 millibars.
The average hurricane pressure is usually in the low-to-mid 900s, Malone said.
Email Justin Mitchell at justin.mitchell@theadvocate.com
#Milton's max winds of 175 mph are the strongest for a #hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this late in the calendar year on record. The latest calendar year Atlantic #hurricane with max winds of 175+ mph prior to Milton was Rita (22 September 2005). pic.twitter.com/lDLsxsPct9
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) October 7, 2024
More information
Now a Cat 5 hurricane, Milton's 'terrifying' strength, rapid intensification breaks US records
Hurricane Milton, now a dangerous Category 5 storm, has become one of the most rapidly intensifying storms on record after its wind speed incr…
Justin Mitchell
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