‘Nonsense’: Claims Hurricane Idalia underwent ‘unprecedented’ climate fueled ‘rapid intensification’ debunked
Climate Analyst Paul Homewood: “There have been suggestions that the rapid intensification of Idalia was somehow unprecedented. This is nonsense. Idalia went from a tropical storm, with winds of 60 kts (69 mph), to a Cat 3 hurricane at landfall, with winds of 125 mph, in the space of about 32 hours.
But that was nothing compared to the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, by far the strongest to hit the US. This went from a tropical storm to a Cat 5 , with winds of 185 mph, all in the space of less than two days. We must also remember, of course, that we now have satellite updates every six hours, plus frequent hurricane hunter flights, to give us almost hourly data for these bigger storms. In 1935, they had little idea what was happening out at sea, and so often had no idea how quickly storms intensified.