Category 4 in the next 24 hours... But no climate change right?

Hurricane Delta is intensifying rapidly and could reach Category 4 in the next 24 hours

By Madeline Holcombe

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned coastal parishes that it is time to prepare for Hurricane Delta as it rapidly intensifies in the Caribbean.

"It is common for many people to experience hurricane fatigue during a busy season, but we need everyone to take this threat seriously," Edwards said.

The storm is expected to make landfall across the northern portions of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico as a likely Category 4 by Wednesday, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy. From there, it could turn toward the US Gulf Coast and reach land by Saturday morning.

On its way, it has been growing fast.

Rapid intensification in tropical systems is defined as 35 mph or more of strengthening in 24 hours, and Delta strengthened by 40 mph over Monday.

Delta is now a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph, 125 miles south of Grand Cayman.

Louisiana's State Emergency Operations Center has been activated since March because of the coronavirus pandemic and is still dealing with the recovery from Hurricane Laura, which struck the area last August. Media briefings for Hurricane Delta will begin Tuesday, Edwards' office said.

How to prepare for a hurricane

Delta is poised to only get stronger as it approaches the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba.

Cuba and the eastern Yucatan, including the city of Cancún, are under hurricane warnings as the storm threatens to make landfall, CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri said.

From Mexico, the storm is forecast to move into the western Gulf of Mexico Wednesday into Thursday but isn't expected to hit the US coast until Saturday.

The gulf may be conducive for Delta to maintain its impact, but with three days until it reaches the US, forecasts are still uncertain, Javaheri said. Current guidance suggests Delta will make landfall somewhere between the coasts of Louisiana, Alabama or the Florida Panhandle as a Category 3 hurricane.

"Although there is still significant uncertainty regarding Delta's intensity when it nears the northern Gulf coast, it is becoming increasing likely that the system will pose a significant wind and storm surge threat to a portion of that area," according to the National Hurricane Center.

But there is another variable meteorologists are monitoring: Delta's interaction with Gamma, which is still drifting near the Yucatan Peninsula as a post tropical cyclone.

This makes predicting Delta's path a little bit tricky, as interactions with Gamma's remnants could result in a sharp westward jog, after which a sharp turn back toward the northwest could occur, the National Hurricane said.

The season's 25th named storm

Delta's intensification turned it into the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. That includes 21 named storms in the standard list of names along with the now four named storms in the Greek alphabet, Javaheri said.

This is only the second time Greek letter Delta has been used for any named storm and it is the earliest-ever 25th Atlantic storm. The previous was Delta on November 15, 2005.

With nearly eight weeks still left in the hurricane season, the number of named storms is nearing the all-time record for one season in 2005 when 28 storms were recorded.