Seth Borenstein | Associated Press

FILE - Waves lap on the beach in front of empty house foundations surrounded by debris, following the passage of Hurricane Milton, on Manasota Key, in Englewood, Fla., Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Weather

Worsening ocean heat waves are 'supercharging' hurricane damage, study finds

In Friday's study researchers look at 1,600 landfalling storms in 41 years, the rapid intensification of those cyclones and the damage they cause especially when they go over big, long-lasting ocean hot spots. Those that go over marine heat waves are 60% more likely to cause at least $1 billion in damage. Hurricanes Helene, Milton and Otis are good examples.

FILE - Ricky Leath, an outreach specialist with the City of Miami, talks with Bei Zhao, right, as he works with the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust to distribute bottles of water and other supplies to the homeless population, helping them manage high temperatures, May 15, 2024, in Miami.

Health

Get ready for several years of killer heat, top weather forecasters warn

Seth Borenstein | Associated Press

Top weather agencies warn that the world should get ready for several years of even more record-breaking heat that pushes the globe to more deadly, fiery and uncomfortable extremes.

Health

Here's what seems to work in Miami to keep deaths down as temperatures soar

Seth Borenstein | Associated Press

Despite a record 46-day streak of triple digit feels-like temperatures, Miami’s unprecented brutal summer last year wasn’t that deadly, contrasting with the rest of the nation. This is how they did it.

FILE - Residents wade down a street through receding floodwaters, two days after Hurricane Patricia, in the village of Rebalse, Jalisco State, Mexico, Oct. 25, 2015. A handful of powerful tropical storms in the last decade and the prospect of more to come has some experts proposing a new category of hurricanes: Category 6, which would be for storms with wind speeds of 192 miles per hour or more. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Environment

Dial it up to Category 6? As warming stokes storms, some want a bigger hurricane category

Seth Borenstein | Associated Press

Studies have shown that the strongest tropical cyclones are getting more intense because of climate change. So two climate scientists suggest that the traditional five-category scale developed more than 50 years ago may not do enough to show the true power of the most potent storms.

FILE - People stand along a waterfront as huge waves crash against a seawall in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

Environment

How busy will hurricane season be? It depends, NOAA says

Seth Borenstein | Associated Press

Two clashing climatic behemoths, El Niño and climate change, will square off this summer to determine how quiet or chaotic the Atlantic hurricane season will be.

FILE - Mike Brennan, then-branch chief at the National Hurricane Center, gives an update on Hurricane Harvey as it moves toward the Texas coast, Aug. 25, 2017, in Miami.

Weather

National Hurricane Center in Miami names new director

Seth Borenstein | Associated Press

The new director of the National Hurricane Center is a man with plenty of experience calling big storms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Mike Brennan will take over immediately.