1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,300
All right, so we're diving into Hurricane Milton today.

2
00:00:02,300 --> 00:00:03,960
Got a whole stack of articles here,

3
00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,240
and let me tell you, this one, this one was something else.

4
00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:08,080
No kidding.

5
00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:09,600
Yeah, everyone gets ready for the wind, right?

6
00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:10,440
The surge.

7
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:11,280
Yeah.

8
00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,280
But Milton, Milton threw everyone a few curve balls.

9
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:15,660
Curve balls is an understatement.

10
00:00:15,660 --> 00:00:19,960
I mean, seriously, tornadoes before the hurricane even hit.

11
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,400
Rainfall amounts that sound like they're made up.

12
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:23,480
And Tampa Bay.

13
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,840
Did the ocean just take a vacation or something?

14
00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:28,520
It really makes you kind of step back and go,

15
00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,720
wait, what do we really know about hurricanes anyway?

16
00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:32,560
Right.

17
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:33,800
So let's break this down a bit.

18
00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:38,800
For those of us who weren't glued to the Weather Channel 24-7,

19
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:40,960
what was the biggest surprise with Milton?

20
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:42,600
I think, honestly.

21
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,000
The tornadoes were the first sign that this one,

22
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:45,840
this one was different.

23
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,600
I mean, we know hurricanes can spawn tornadoes,

24
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:50,960
but usually it's as they come ashore, right?

25
00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:52,840
Milton's like, no, let's get the party started early.

26
00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,640
We're talking 126 tornado warnings.

27
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:56,880
Hold on, 126.

28
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,960
That's more than some states see in a decade.

29
00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:01,680
What on earth caused that?

30
00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,720
It was, well, they call it a perfect storm

31
00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:05,000
of atmospheric conditions.

32
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:06,560
And I mean that literally.

33
00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,400
Picture a figure skater, right?

34
00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,440
Spinning and they pull their arms in, they spin faster.

35
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,520
Same idea with the hurricane's rotation.

36
00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,200
Strong jet stream ripping across the top of Hurricane Milton

37
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,160
made it spin faster and boom,

38
00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,240
super powered rotating thunderstorms.

39
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,560
So the jet stream was like the extra oomph

40
00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,840
that turned these thunderstorms into tornadoes.

41
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:26,840
You got it.

42
00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,760
And not just any tornadoes either.

43
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,800
Some of these were on the ground for miles,

44
00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,120
tearing things up long before the hurricane

45
00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:34,680
even made landfall.

46
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:36,120
And a lot of that intensity.

47
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:37,880
You can think the marine heat wave

48
00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,240
that was brewing in the Gulf.

49
00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,880
Ah, okay, so that's where the marine heat wave comes in.

50
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,280
I've heard that term, but what exactly does it do?

51
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:46,680
Think of it like this.

52
00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:47,680
The marine heat wave,

53
00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,720
it's like giving the hurricane a super powered energy drink.

54
00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:52,800
It makes the ocean way warmer than usual.

55
00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,560
And warmer water means more evaporation,

56
00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,000
more moisture in the air.

57
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000
And that my friend is like pouring gasoline on a fire

58
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:02,440
when it comes to hurricane power.

59
00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,880
Wow, so this heat wave just threw fuel on the fire, huh?

60
00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:07,880
Okay, that explains the tornadoes.

61
00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,920
But what about all that crazy rain in St. Petersburg?

62
00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:12,840
Over a foot and a half in some places?

63
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,640
That's more rain than some places see in a year, right?

64
00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:17,560
No, you're telling me it was off the charts.

65
00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,480
Meteorologists, they call it a one in 1,000 year event.

66
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,680
Like you're more likely to win the lottery

67
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,040
than see that much rain in such a short time.

68
00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:26,080
Okay, but Tampa Bay though,

69
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,600
this is the part that just blows my mind.

70
00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,840
Everyone, and I mean everyone,

71
00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,480
is braced for this massive like wall of water.

72
00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,320
And then poof, it's gone.

73
00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,080
It's like someone hit rewind on the ocean.

74
00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:39,040
What happened there?

75
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,520
All right, so that right there,

76
00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,360
that's what we call the reverse surge phenomenon.

77
00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:44,680
Sounds like something out of a movie, right?

78
00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:45,520
Yeah.

79
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:47,200
But it's all, well, it's physics really.

80
00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,720
It's all about the way those hurricane winds rotate.

81
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,520
See, hurricanes are like these massive spinning tops

82
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,320
and the wind goes counterclockwise around the center,

83
00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:56,400
what we call the eye.

84
00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:57,400
Okay, makes sense.

85
00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,120
So how does that affect the surge?

86
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,840
It's all about which way that wind is blowing

87
00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:03,360
relative to the coast.

88
00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,200
If you're north of the eye,

89
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,480
those winds are actually blowing off shore out to sea.

90
00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:09,720
And guess what?

91
00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,760
Hurricane Milton made landfall just south of Tampa Bay.

92
00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:14,600
Wait, hold on.

93
00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:16,560
So are you saying that the hurricane was so strong

94
00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:17,960
it sucked the water out of the bay?

95
00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:19,120
That just sounds backwards.

96
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,640
Exactly, it's like a giant vacuum cleaner,

97
00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:23,880
just sucking that water right out.

98
00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,000
And that's exactly what happened with Milton.

99
00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:27,800
Just a few miles north though,

100
00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,000
if it hit just a bit north,

101
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,600
we'd be looking at a completely different story,

102
00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:33,720
probably a much worse one for Tampa Bay.

103
00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,360
So a few miles is all that stood between Tampa

104
00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:37,800
and a major disaster.

105
00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,240
That's both, I don't know, amazing and terrifying

106
00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:41,080
all at once.

107
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:42,640
Shows you just how much a little change

108
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,880
in a hurricane's path can really mean, huh?

109
00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:45,720
Absolutely.

110
00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,320
It's a good reminder why those storm surge warnings

111
00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:49,520
they're not to be messed with.

112
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:50,960
Even if you're not right in the bull's eye,

113
00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,640
you can still get some seriously strange

114
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,960
and dangerous effects.

115
00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:57,960
Right, definitely something to remember.

116
00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,000
You mentioned that the reverse surge,

117
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,840
it's not like totally unheard of.

118
00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:03,040
Were there other hurricanes

119
00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:04,280
where this kind of thing happened?

120
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:05,360
Oh yeah, for sure.

121
00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,720
It's happened before and it'll happen again.

122
00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:09,920
Hurricane Irma back in 2017,

123
00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,440
that one caused a reverse surge in Tampa Bay too.

124
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,160
Not quite as dramatic as Milton,

125
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,240
but still, these reverse surges,

126
00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,720
they just go to show you how hurricanes,

127
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,120
they're complex and some,

128
00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,080
well, sometimes they just do the unexpected.

129
00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:23,600
Seems like the more we learn about them,

130
00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,440
the more we realize how little we actually know.

131
00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,280
Speaking of which, two hurricanes in two weeks,

132
00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,960
Helene and then Milton, that can't be normal, can it?

133
00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,680
Two hurricanes, boom, boom, right at us.

134
00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,880
Makes you wonder if this is the new normal now.

135
00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:38,760
Yeah, it's definitely got people talking to,

136
00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,240
I asked unusual, two hurricanes so close together,

137
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,400
but not completely unheard of

138
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,280
if you look back at hurricane history.

139
00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:47,560
2004, Florida got hit by four hurricanes,

140
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:48,640
one after the other.

141
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,440
Charlie, Francis, Ivan, then Gene.

142
00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,240
And there were similar patterns back in the 40s and 50s too.

143
00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,320
So not totally unprecedented,

144
00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,080
but still makes you think, right?

145
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:00,920
Especially with all the talk about

146
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,160
climate change messing with hurricanes.

147
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:05,160
Yeah, and that's the big question, isn't it?

148
00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,560
I mean, can we say for sure that Hurricane Helene

149
00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,160
and then Milton, both hitting Florida like this,

150
00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:12,600
is because of climate change?

151
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,160
Not definitively, no,

152
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,040
but the science is pretty clear on this.

153
00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,560
Warmer oceans supercharge hurricanes.

154
00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,720
It's like giving them an extra shot of espresso.

155
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,080
More moisture in the air too,

156
00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:23,600
means you're gonna get those heavier downpour,

157
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,120
stronger winds, and yeah,

158
00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,200
those weird side effects like what we saw with Milton,

159
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:29,720
those could become more common too.

160
00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,800
So basically, we're making hurricanes

161
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,280
stronger and less predictable.

162
00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,280
Great, just what we need, right?

163
00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:37,960
But seriously, if all this,

164
00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,840
these crazy rainfall amounts, those reverse surges,

165
00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:43,760
if this is the new normal, what do we even deal?

166
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,600
We gotta adapt, that's for sure.

167
00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,440
The old ways of thinking about hurricanes

168
00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,680
might not cut it anymore.

169
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,400
We need to be ready for anything.

170
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:51,560
More rain than we're used to,

171
00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,400
tornadoes popping up further inland

172
00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,280
and those weird surge events,

173
00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:57,360
even if you think you're far enough away from the coast.

174
00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,000
It's like Hurricane Milton was a crash course,

175
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,920
in all the ways a hurricane can surprise you.

176
00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,720
This deep dive, it wasn't just about one storm, was it?

177
00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:06,840
It feels like we've been looking

178
00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,240
at the bigger picture here, like the climate's changing

179
00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,440
and hurricanes are changing right along with it.

180
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,800
So to everyone listening, pay attention.

181
00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,760
Hurricane Milton was a wake-up call.

182
00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:17,880
Don't just watch that cone of uncertainty.

183
00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:19,040
Be ready for anything.

184
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,840
We need to stay informed, be prepared for the unexpected

185
00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,000
and maybe, just maybe, rethink how we get ready

186
00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:48,600
for hurricane season from now on.