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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHurricane Iota: Lightning inside the eyewall. (WaPo images)
An eyewall shrouded in electricityIotas furious eyewall was crackling with electricity Monday afternoon, a rarity in tropical storms and hurricanes. Usually, the updrafts and sideways spiral of air is insufficient to induce charge separation, which gives rise to lightning. But not with Iota. When a hurricane produces frequent lightning in its eyewall, you know its a top-tier storm.
Trochoidal wobbles
The most powerful hurricanes occasionally appear to wobble as they churn, and Iota is no exception. Early Monday, its eye was organizing, the ragged, misshapen feature becoming carved out into a perfect circle. Thats around the same time Iotas winds spiked to Category 5 strength.
Satellite
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/11/16/five-images-hurricane-iota/
DanieRains
(4,619 posts)What is stronger than a Cat 5?
Cat 6?
Cat 7?
Drill Baby Drill!
malaise
(267,808 posts)Category 6. He saw what was coming.
Amazing how something so beautiful is so deadly.
LeftInTX
(24,549 posts)And following storms in real time!
maxrandb
(15,189 posts)brer cat
(24,401 posts)Deuxcents
(15,777 posts)Their building codes, even if they have any, cannot withstand this. Even in Florida with all our codes, it would be catastrophic. They just had Eta last week..were still cleaning it n we only got lots of rain. And yet..leadership is in denial about climate change. I think a cat 5 is the highest category for hurricanes..the eye is so perfectly formed, you can see clear to the ocean with this one. Damn
crickets
(25,896 posts)The first thing that occurred to me on seeing the satellite photo is, "Oh, no. Not another Katrina." I am so worried for all of the people in Iota's path. It's going to be really bad, and it's so frustrating no one can do anything to stop it.