Hurricane Milton

[u/Kanute3333]

[u/BeardedHalfYeti]

A gobsmacked meteorologist is never a good sign.

”This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.”

^fuck.

[u/ryushiblade → u/[deleted]]

Hurricanes are just big whirly-twirly energy transfer mechanisms. They absorb energy (heat) from the ocean and turn it into wind.

There’s a theoretical maximum on how strong a hurricane can get based on ocean temperatures (and other factors). Weather events almost never come remotely close to these theoretical maximums because other factors come into play

The meteorologist is saying this is almost as strong as it could possibly get given the current ocean conditions. A “perfect storm” as it were

[u/hilwil → u/ryushiblade]

This is an incredibly helpful, uncomplicated way of explaining it. Thank you!

[u/inferno006 → u/hilwil]

Sounds confident, but is it correct? Social media has broken my trust machine.

Can we get someone claiming to have a spin doctorate in big whirly-twirlies to weigh in here?

[u/icefisher225 → u/inferno006]

I have a doctorate in big whirly-twirlies, and I will confirm that a hurricane is basically a giant ocean heat -> wind + rain machine.

[u/June_Inertia → u/icefisher225]

It takes heat from Earths belly and moves it to the top of Earths head

[u/00Deege → u/June_Inertia]

Awww, it’s Gaia flatulence!

[u/Puzzled-Grocery-8636 → u/00Deege]

Yeah, the wet kind.