Hurricane Idalia's forecast track, rate of intensification and the environment it will encounter as it approaches land sets it apart from other recent damaging storms in several ways, hurricane experts told Axios.
President Biden spoke to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday and approved an emergency declaration in the state as Tropical Storm Idalia approaches.
Why it matters: Idalia is forecast to become a hurricane later on Monday before intensifying and hitting the state as a major Category 3 storm Wednesday morning.
Tropical Storm Idalia may be following the path of many previous storms, but it is about to encounter Gulf of Mexico waters that are record warm for this time of year — the equivalent of a powder keg for hurricane energy.
Threat level: Storm intensity forecasts are notoriously hard to make, especially more than a day in advance, but this is even tougher with Idalia.
Tropical Storm Idalia was nearing hurricane intensity on Monday morning and is forecast to hit Florida as a major Category 3 storm Wednesday morning.
Threat level: The storm is forecast to rapidly intensify over record-warm ocean waters for this time of year, and bring a "life-threatening storm surge" and "dangerous winds" to parts of Florida.
