Twenty-four hours later, Hurricane Laura was unrecognizable. It had rocketed into a high-end Category 4 storm, with wind speeds of nearly 145 mph, and was teetering toward Category 5 — the most dangerous. It was one of the fastest transformations on record in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts call the phenomenon “rapid intensification” and say it’s happening more frequently, thanks in part to warming ocean temperatures driven by climate change. The speed with which these storms morph can complicate both weather forecasting and emergency responses.
“The problem is, several days out, people are tuning in, saying, ‘It’s a Cat 1, Cat 2, been through those, know what to do, not that bad,’ ” said Craig Fugate, who headed the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Obama administration. “Then it starts intensifying and the window to evacuate closes very quickly.” Research shows that rapid intensification events are getting more common in the Atlantic hurricane region as the climate warms. In fact, some experts say, it is almost as if as the maximum “speed limit” for storms increases, the storms themselves, like drivers, are adjusting by speeding up.