Climate change triggered intensified rain, wind in Hurricane Milton: experts

Clean-up continues at Clearwater Beach, Fla., after Hurricane Milton on Friday (October 11, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

Experts that human-induced climate change made Hurricane Milton, which lashed Florida this week, wetter and windier, said on Friday (October 11, 2024).

“Heavy one-day rainfall events such as the one associated with Milton are 20-30% more intense and about twice as likely in today’s climate,” the international World Weather Attribution group said in a report.

The effect boosted Milton’s wind strength by about 10%, making what would have been a Category 2 storm a more destructive Category 3, on a five-point scale, the report said.