Hurricane Michael is primed to grow stronger and pummel the Florida coast. Here’s why.

Hurricane Michael has matured, developed an eye, and is gathering strength as it churns on a direct path towards the Florida Panhandle. 

National Hurricane Center scientists expect the storm to strike land on Wednesday as a major storm, with winds greater than 110 mph, making it at least a Category 3 hurricane.

There’s now almost nothing holding back the storm from further intensification as it approaches land, bringing not just destructive winds but perilous surges of ocean water into the Florida and Alabama coasts. 

“Hurricane Michael is primed for additional strengthening prior to landfall because the key players in the atmosphere and ocean are all conducive for it,” Brian McNoldy, a storm researcher at University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said over email. Read more…

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