Weather & Science
Hurricane Intensity Is a Mystery Forecasters Are Struggling to Solve
Scientists say missing data and gaps in research make it hard to predict hurricane winds at landfall.
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Hurricane Helene is forecast to pummel Florida’s west coast Thursday with devastating winds — but exactly how devastating won’t be evident until skies clear.
That’s because wind speed predictions are hamstrung by patchy data and gaps in research about how hurricanes gather power from warm waters in the hours before they reach land. While forecasts tracking where storms will strike have become much more accurate since the mid-1990s, methods for pinpointing their intensity have lagged behind, despite recent improvements.