Just 8 Atlantic Storms Have Ever Done This

Hurricane Milton's winds reached sustained speeds of 180mph Monday—a threshold just eight other Atlantic hurricanes on record have hit or crossed. The rapidly intensifying Category 5 hurricane is the strongest storm in the Gulf of Mexico since 2005, the New York Times reports. While its wind speeds could fluctuate as it moves east, that could also indicate it's grown bigger and its effects are reaching a wider area. It's expected to make landfall Wednesday around Tampa. More of the latest:

• The Weather Channel reports Milton's rapid intensification is one of the most "extreme" ever seen in the Atlantic, more than doubling the criteria that is considered rapid intensification, and that its minimum pressure of under 900mb is nearing an all-time low for Atlantic hurricanes. (For more on how low pressure contributes to the storms, see NOAA.)

• "We have to assume it's going to be a monster," said Gov. Ron DeSantis. He implored residents to clean up as much of the debris from Hurricane Helene as possible, before Milton turned it all back into projectiles, the Washington Post reports. "This is a 24/7 moment for this debris removal," he said. "What we have to do is just do it round-the-clock, until it's no longer safe to do it."
• The meteorologist who nearly cried on air while reporting on the hurricane posted about his emotional response on X Monday, writing, "I debated whether to share this. I did apologize on the air. But I invite you to read my introspection on @BulletinAtomic of how extreme weather driven by global warming has changed me. Frankly, YOU should be shaken too, and demand #ClimateActionNow." He included a link to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, where he wrote that Helene, which devastated the South less than two weeks ago, is not an "outlier" but a "harbinger of the future."
• Could Milton become a Category 6? As USA Today explains, there is currently no such category—5 is the highest—but some have questioned whether the National Hurricane Center needs to add one as storms become more intense.

(More Hurricane Milton stories.)