Hurricane Michael Just Under Category 5 an Hour From Landfall

Again we go to our go-to hurricane expert, Ryan Maue:

Michael is being observed/measured by US Air Force & NOAA planes / Hurricane Hunters.  The wind speeds are 130-knots -- just a bit less than expected by the satellite algorithms -- but it's possible storm is raised to Category 5 prior to landfall.

— Ryan Maue | weathermodels.com (@RyanMaue) October 10, 2018

In the absence of aircraft measurements, we use satellite algorithms to determine intensity -- like Super Typhoons this year in Western Pacific e.g. Mangkhut or Jebi.

Intensity is function of eye temperature (+17°C) and cold cloud tops surrounding it (-75°C)

Yields Cat 5 pic.twitter.com/vmYSWK6Sme

— Ryan Maue | weathermodels.com (@RyanMaue) October 10, 2018