Hurricane Florence Intensified Fast. We Still Don't Understand Why Some Storms Fizzle And Others Erupt

Astronaut Ricky Arnold captured this photo of Hurricane Florence from the International Space Station on September 10, 2018. (Credit: NASA) As Hurricane Florence careens toward the Atlantic coast, more than a million Carolina residents are evacuating while millions more are hunkering down with supplies. Hurricane Florence intensified incredibly rapidly this week, morphing from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in less than 48 hours. How it intensified is understood, but scientists still struggle to predict which Atlantic hurricanes will intensify quickly – or not – during their journey across the ocean.