Hurricane forecasters' worst nightmare came true yesterday, when what had been a Category 3 storm Tuesday night suddenly jumped almost to Category 5, Axios' Andrew Freedman reports.

• Why it matters: It used to be rare for storms to keep strengthening until landfall, let alone do so rapidly. Now it isn't — and studies show this is a dangerous sign of climate change.

What's happening: The intensity leap was made possible by warm ocean temperatures and abundant atmospheric moisture — both factors that climate change enhances.

• During the past several years, multiple storms have rapidly intensified as they neared the Gulf Coast and did so through landfall.
• Previously, tropical storms and hurricanes tended to weaken as they neared the northern Gulf Coast in particular, falling victim to cooler waters or stronger jet stream winds.
• But that didn't happen with Hurricanes Laura or Ida in 2020 and 2021 — or with Hurricane Michael, which ramped all the way up to a Category 5 storm in the Florida Panhandle in 2018.

Threat level: The danger of a rapid intensification shortly before landfall is that people will be caught off guard by the stronger storm.

• Emergency management officials design their evacuation plans based on storm intensity and movement.

Between the lines: The trends seen in the past several years point to human-caused climate change.

• Warm, tropical waters are the main source of fuel for hurricanes.
• Air temperatures are also increasing. When that happens, the air can hold more water vapor. That's helping make hurricanes wetter than they used to be.

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Ian weakened to a tropical storm this morning. But the National Hurricane Center warned it's still battering the Florida Peninsula with strong winds, heavy rains and storm surge.

• Since making landfall as a high-end Category 4 storm yesterday afternoon, Ian has knocked out power to more than 2.5 million people — and inundated densely populated coastal communities known for attracting tourists and retirees.

What we're watching: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said more than 42,000 lineworkers — including many from other states — were moving to help with power restoration efforts across Florida.

🔮 What's next: The storm will likely move off the east coast of Florida later today — but could strengthen again to near hurricane intensity as it approaches South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center warned.

• Tropical-storm-force winds are expected to spread across northeastern Florida, Georgia and the Carolina coasts through Friday.

The prospect of an effective new Alzheimer's treatment came roaring back this week with the announcement of preliminary clinical trial data, giving millions of seniors renewed hope after a tumultuous year, Axios' Caitlin Owens Adriel Bettelheim report.

• Why it matters: Alzheimer's is a devastating disease, and the topline results boosted analysts' expectations for an entire class of drugs targeting the condition. But they also resurrect enormous questions about who'll cover the costs — and how the U.S. will oversee what's likely a multibillion-dollar market.

🧠 What's happening: The success of a clinical trial of lecanemab, by Eisai and Biogen, has instantly changed the narrative around arresting Alzheimer's progression.

• Drugmakers have spent billions of dollars developing products built around the theory that brain amyloid plaques are major contributors to Alzheimer's and that reducing those plaques will fight the disease.

Expectations for those drugs were dashed by the drawn-out saga of Biogen's other Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm, which was approved by the FDA last year without solid evidence it worked.

• The new results will likely restart the entire regulatory mechanism — this time for a drug that experts say has gone through a much more reliable scientific process.

🔮 What's next: Eli Lilly, Roche and Acumen Pharmaceuticals also have drugs in development that target amyloid plaques. The Biogen results have raised many investors' expectations for their success.

• Keep reading.

LeBron James is buying into a professional pickleball expansion team:

• LRMR Ventures, the home office of James and business partner Maverick Carter, is part of an ownership group buying the Major League Pickleball (MLP) team, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The announcement is a sign that pickleball, which took off amid COVID, will be more than a fad. And it's another example of elite athletes becoming increasingly entrepreneurial.

LeBron's group includes fellow basketball greats Draymond Green and Kevin Love + SpringHill Company CMO Paul Rivera.

• "It's a watershed moment for pickleball," MLP founder Steve Kuhn said.

Pickleball is a fast-paced paddle sport with similarities to tennis. It's played on a much smaller court with a net, using a perforated plastic ball.

• MLP is expanding to 16 teams from 12. A 2022 season finale will be held next month in Columbus, Ohio. 48 players will compete for a purse of $319,000, which MLP says is the largest in the sport's history.

Other pickleball team owners include entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk ... former NFL quarterback Drew Brees ... Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry ... and former pro tennis player James Blake, MLP says.

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Pending home sales — contract signings to buy existing homes — fell in August for the seventh month this year, Axios' Emily Peck writes from National Association of Realtors data.

• Why it matters: Rising mortgage rates put already high home prices out of reach for lots of people.

A quick glance at this chart explains a lot: The minimum income needed to afford a typical house has doubled since 2020 in several major metro areas, according to data from Zillow.

• Pending home sales are at the lowest level since 2011, with the exception of a brief period in 2020 when the country went into lockdown, Bloomberg noted.

After seven suspense-filled games without one, New York Yankee Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run this season last night.

• Why it matters: That tied the long-standing American League record — set by fellow Yankees outfielder Roger Maris in 1961, and passed Babe Ruth's 60 home runs in 1927.
• "Sitting at 60 for a while there with 'The Babe' was nice," Judge said. "Getting the chance to now sit at 61 with another Yankee right fielder ... it's pretty cool."

Only five other players — Maris, Ruth, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa — have hit 60 or more home runs in a single season, Axios' Tuanh Dam writes.

• But McGwire has admitted to steroid use, while Bonds and Sosa have denied allegations that they used performance-enhancing drugs.

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Coolio — the Grammy-winning rapper who helped define hip hop in the 1990s — died in L.A. at 59.

• He was "indelibly associated with West Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap," The Hollywood Reporter's Abid Rahman writes.

The Compton-raised rapper also wrote the theme song for the '90s hit show "Kenan & Kel," which starred Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell.

• He won one Grammy for "Gangsta's Paradise" and was nominated for four more.

Bill Plante — one of the longest-serving White House correspondents in history, whose big baritone boomed from the press room's front row for 35 years — died at 84, CBS News reports.

• Plante retired from CBS News as senior White House correspondent in 2016 after 52 years with the news division. He served four tours in Vietnam, covered every presidential election from 1968 to 2016, and anchored the "CBS Sunday Night News" from 1988 to 1995. 
• Plante covered the White House during the administrations of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and covered the State Department during the administration of George H.W. Bush. 

🍷 Mike's memory: When I was a new White House reporter for the WashPost, I was tickled to spot Bill Plante — one of the big names I'd watched growing up — working the New York Times crossword during boring briefings.

• Bill loved wine, and everyone knew to let him order when you were on the road. One of my most memorable nights on the beat was watching Bill Plante order for our table at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

Video: Obit from "CBS Evening News."

We told you in May about Ben Montgomery's beautiful slate-gray Blue Star pullet that really doesn't like him.

• Above: Ben — from Axios Local — sheltered two chickens in a bathroom at his home as Hurricane Ian hit Tampa.

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