Much as one would look at an enemy, Hurricane Milton, the strongest ever hurricane to form this late in the Atlantic season, has been looking at us with a narrow eye—a signal of its intensity, experts say.
- Pinhole eye: Though varying in size, Milton's eye has been as small as 3 miles wide, just shy of the 2.5-mile record held by 2005's Hurricane Wilma, per WKMG. "The average diameter of the eye in a major hurricane is about 22 miles wide," according to meteorologist Eric Graves.
- High intensity: "The smaller the eye, the faster the winds can get given ideal atmospheric conditions of low wind shear and warm water temperatures," explains WKMG meteorologist Jonathan Kegges. And the faster a storm "can go up and down in intensity," WWL meteorologist Payton Malone tells NOLA.com.
- Historic: Milton's wind speed increased by over 90mph within 24 hours. According to WKMG, only two other hurricanes in history have rapidly intensified at the same rate: Wilma and 2007's Felix.
- 'Nothing short of astronomical': That's how WOFL meteorologist Noah Bergren described what he was looking at, per Live Science. "I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe [to] you the storms (sic) small eye and intensity," he wrote on X. "This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth's atmosphere over this ocean water can produce."
- Watch the eye wall: The size of the eye depends on the structure of the eye wall, the area just outside the eye, and a cycle of strengthening and weakening is likely to occur as long as the storm remains over water, Malone explains. And it's likely to weaken as it meets wind shear on Tuesday or Wednesday.
(One meteorologist
grew emotional on-air while describing the "horrific" storm.)
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