How hurricanes like Laura get so strong
Hurricane Laura intensified quickly over the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall on August 27, 2020. (CSU/CIRA and NOAA/NESDIS/)Chris Slocum is a physical scientist at NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University. This story originally featured on The Conversation.Hurricane Laura blew up quickly as it headed for the Louisiana coast, intensifying from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours. By the time it made it landfall, it was a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150 mile-per-hour winds.The Atlantic has seen several hurricanes rapidly intensify like this in recent years.In 2018, Hurricane Michael unexpectedly jumped from Category 2 to Category 5 in the span of a day before hitting the Florida Panhandle. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017 also met the definition of rapid intensification: an increase of at least 35 miles per hour in a 24-hour period. Based...