This past weekend, Hurricane Erin went through one of the most rapid intensifications of any Atlantic hurricane on record, something that may becoming more and more common.

Forecasters classify any storm that gains 35 mph of wind speed or more within 24 hours as rapidly intensifying. Erin leapt 85 mph in a day, from a tropical storm to a 160-mph Category 5 beast.

“It was pretty amazing,” said Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, of the storm’s jump.

“Erin will go down in the history books as one of the fastest rapidly intensifying storms in history,” said hurricane expert Alex DaSilva, also of AccuWeather. “We expect to see more cases of extreme rapid intensification in the future as ocean temperatures continue to rise.”

A 2023 study showed that hurricanes are intensif

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