Axios

Lime, the Uber-backed startup that wasn't awarded one of the coveted permits to deploy scooters in San Francisco, is planning to formally apply for a temporary restraining order on Friday against the city, arguing that its selection process was unfair.

The big picture: It's hard not to see this as a last-ditch effort by Lime to stop its rivals from operating in San Francisco as they're set to begin on Monday. The company reportedly appealed the transportation agency's decision last month after it snubbed all three companies that rolled out their scooters before the city had created a pilot program in favor of two startups that had waited. Go deeper: How Skip wants to win the scooter wars by following the rules

Update: On Friday, a San Francisco judge denied Lime's attempt to stall the program's start on Monday, but did order five transportation agency officials to testify as the company's lawsuit continues. Lime called the decision "a victory for the people of San Francisco and Lime."

Drone footage released Thursday shows the devastation left by Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida, which slammed the Florida Panhandle as a near-Category 5 hurricane, packing sustained winds of 155 mph.

Go deeper: Hurricane Michael hits Florida as one of the strongest U.S. hurricanes ever

Hurricane Michael has wreaked havoc in the Florida Panhandle since making landfall as a Category 4 storm Wednesday afternoon, killing at least two people and creating "catastrophic" damage in the region.

The big picture: Hurricane Michael exploded from a tropical storm to a near-Category 5 hurricane in just four days, making it one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the continental U.S.

Hurricane Michael intensified at an extraordinarily rapid pace, growing from a tropical storm on Sunday to a borderline Category 5 storm featuring one of the lowest air pressure readings ever observed in a landfalling hurricane in the U.S. by Wednesday.

Why it matters: Hurricane Michael is occurring just days after the United Nations released a major report on climate change, concluding that potentially irreversible and major consequences, including extreme weather events, will grow far worse much earlier than previously thought.

Hurricane Michael made landfall in Mexico Beach, Fla., as a high-end Category 4 storm early Wednesday afternoon, killing at least two people and causing catastrophic damage.

The big picture: It's the strongest such storm on record to hit the Florida Panhandle and one of the strongest ever to strike the continental U.S. — and it severely impacted Florida's electricity grid and oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

This chart shows every Atlantic storm tracked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since 1987, including Hurricane Michael. The higher the line within each year, the higher the recorded wind speed.

By the numbers: Hurricane Michael exploded from a tropical storm to a near-Category 5 hurricane in just four days — that's why the chart shows such a rapid increase in wind speed. It hit the Florida panhandle with the third-lowest atmospheric pressure of any storm ever to hit the continental United States (919 millibars), and was among the five strongest by sustained winds at landfall (155 mph).

Hurricane Michael made landfall in Mexico Beach, Florida as a high-end Category 4 storm early Wednesday afternoon — the strongest such storm on record to hit the Florida Panhandle and one of the strongest ever to strike the continental U.S.

Why it matters: This storm has caused catastrophic damage in parts of the Florida Panhandle where the core of the storm first moved ashore. Hurricane Michael will continue to cause damage overnight as it moves through Georgia and into South Carolina, with hundreds of thousands likely losing power. The storm has set milestones even as it moved further inland, becoming the first Category 3 storm to hit Georgia in 120 years (and doing so after it passed through another state, no less).

India, a country the Trump administration has called “a key security and economic partner,” will soon test U.S. resolve on Iran. Two Indian firms are reportedly seeking to purchase Iranian oil in November. Should the imports go through, they would contravene the stated U.S. aim of bringing Iran’s petroleum exports “as close to zero as possible” by Nov. 4.

Between the lines: Despite its goal of increasing pressure on Iran, the U.S. is considering “significant reduction exemptions” for countries trying to get to zero. To gain this exemption, New Delhi will likely cite current press reporting about its reduced intake of Iranian crude. However, recent data paints a different picture of India’s Iranian oil imports, which have stayed essentially the same for the past two months.

Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, at 1:40 pm ET, as a powerful Category 4 storm. Professional storm chasers and journalists are capturing the massive storm and the damage it is causing to the Florida Panhandle, packing 155 mph sustained winds as of 1:30 pm ET.

James Murdoch, the outgoing CEO of 21st Century Fox, has emerged as the top candidate to replace Elon Musk as the chairman of Tesla, the Financial Times reports. In a tweet, Musk called the report "incorrect."

Why it matters: Per Musk's settlement with the SEC for the fateful "go-private" tweet, Tesla has until the middle of November to replace Musk as chairman of the company. Murdoch joined Tesla's board last year. Musk seems determined to continue to violate the spirit if not the letter of the SEC agreement — first with his “shortseller enrichment commission” tweet, and now with the appointment of his friend James Murdoch as an “independent” chairman.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include Musk's latest tweet.

Hurricane Michael has made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, at 1:40 p.m., as a powerful Category 4 storm. Its minimum central air pressure of 919 millibars and maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour put it on the cusp of Category 5 status.

The big picture: The storm ranks as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S., with a minimum air pressure comparable to Hurricanes Camille, Andrew and Katrina. It is the most powerful hurricane ever to hit the Florida Panhandle, and catastrophic damage is expected near the landfall zone. Wind damage and power outages will extend inland to Tallahassee and southern Georgia.

Florida Democrats have filed an injunction calling for a registration extension of at least a week as Hurricane Michael hits Florida as one of the strongest U.S. hurricanes ever.

The big picture: Florida Governor Rick Scott, who is running against Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson for a Senate seat, has extended the voter registration deadline for areas impacted by Hurricane Michael to one day after offices are able to re-open. Democrats want the deadline, which was originally October 9, extended to October 16, per USA Today.

Dan and and Axios Science Editor Andrew Friedman discuss the "nightmare scenario" unfolding in Florida, and the UN's new report on how climate change could become catastrophic.

"We had plenty hurricanes before the industrial age. But scientific consensus is that extreme weather is on the rise, and that our actions are contributing to it. Obviously not everyone agrees, but those who dissent, including President Trump, are very much in the minority."

Go deeper: Hurricane Michael makes landfall

The Weather Channel's Mike Bettes tried to evacuate his crew from near the landfall location of an intensifying Hurricane Michael, but the meteorologist — who was injured in 2013 while chasing tornadoes for the network — was forced to turn back.

Why it matters: TV networks may have placed reporters in harms' way, near the water and where the core of the storm's strongest winds could cause "catastrophic" damage. The Weather Channel has some of the most experienced weather experts in the business, so for them to try to evacuate as the storm approached is a sign of the storm's fury.

ExxonMobil's pledge Tuesday to put $1 million into carbon tax lobbying is the latest of several industry moves lately — including Exxon and Chevron joining the wider Oil and Gas Climate Initiative and more low-carbon energy investments by some big players.

Reality check: With the big UN report highlighting the unprecedented global energy transition needed to limit the extent of global warming — something far more seismic than the changes occurring today — now is a good time to explore what further steps the industry could take in the near(ish) term.

Emissions from manufacturing plants making essential materials like cement and steel are an overlooked problem in addressing climate change, says a new report released Wednesday by centrist think tank Third Way and two other groups.

Why it matters: Carbon dioxide emissions from the U.S. industrial sector are set to rise nearly 25% by 2050, and they are the hardest to turn green because renewable energy can’t fill the void and the chemical processes themselves are quite carbon-intensive.

Hurricane Michael explosively intensified on Tuesday night into a powerful Category 3 storm, and is now forecast to road ashore Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane in the central Florida Panhandle. Barring a last-minute weakening trend, this would put the storm into the history books as one of the most intense hurricanes ever to strike the Florida Panhandle, with the worst of the storm hitting between Pensacola and Apalachicola.

The big picture: Michael has the potential to cause "catastrophic damage" from strong winds and a potentially huge storm surge that will be pushed into the state's Panhandle and Big Bend region, the National Weather Service says. The storm is moving steadily northward toward the Florida Panhandle, with time having run out for residents to prepare. It is forecast to continue intensifying through the time of landfall sometime Wednesday.