John Morales

No one can hide from the truth. Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, are becoming more extreme.

Last year, Hurricane Otis struck very near Acapulco, Mexico, as a monster 165 mile-per-hour category 5 cyclone. About 24-hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) was predicting it would do so as 70 mile-per-hour tropical storm. With the energy content (and destructive potential) of the wind increasing with the cube of the windspeed, that means that Otis reached Mexico…

Humans can change some aspects of the weather. Science-based weather modification techniques are now employed in over 50 countries according to the World Meteorological Organization. But for every science-based weather-altering technique, there are dozens of pseudoscientific urban legends.

Fears of a backloaded hurricane season materialized in an awful way in the past few weeks. Hurricanes Helene and Milton collectively claimed hundreds of lives. And each hurricane is estimated to have produced at least $50 billion in damage.

In the subheading, NOAA cut to the chase: “No one creates or steers hurricanes; the technology does not exist.”

When it comes to hurricanes, Floridians’ spirits lift in November. The end of the season is in sight. While a November storm can never be ruled out — see 2022’s Hurricane Nicole — the chance of being struck by a hurricane drops rapidly as we march towards Thanksgiving.

Rafael brought a life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding to parts of western Cuba as it made landfall in the province of Artemisa.

One more for the road? … this unending hurricane season had to deliver one more surprise in its waning days.

Ocean temperatures made higher by human-caused climate change are fueling more intense hurricanes in the Atlantic.

John Morales says ‘good riddance' to a busy and impactful 2024 hurricane season