(CNN) — The rapid intensification Hurricane Otis underwent in the hours before it slammed into southern Mexico is a symptom of the human-caused climate crisis, scientists say – and one that is becoming more frequent. When it happens right before landfall, as it did with Otis, it can catch coastal communities by surprise with little...
Vast sections of the Mexican city of Acapulco are in ruins after Hurricane Otis became the first Category 5 hurricane to strike Mexico’s Pacific coast in recorded history.The hurricane’s intensification was among the fastest forecasters have ever seen: its top-end windspeed increased by 115 mph in 24 hours. Only one other storm, Hurricane Patricia in 2015, exceeded Otis’ rapid intensification in East Pacific records, with a 120-mph increase in 24 hours.
Tropical storms usually take several days to grow into powerful hurricanes, but with human-caused climate change, rapid intensification is becoming a more common occurrence, said Suzana Camargo, hurricane expert and professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Only one hurricane, Category 1 Hurricane Max in 2017, has made landfall within 50 miles of Acapulco, according to a CNN analysis of NOAA data.
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