🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 99 (from laksa198)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa099.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm\/","crawl_time":1775744064,"first_indexed_time":1505092621,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,wired!www,\/story\/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm\/ s443","src_root_hash":"5736512710119187299","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Hurricane Irma: A Practically Impossible Storm | WIRED","meta_descriptions":["As Irma grew and developed, it brushed up against its theoretical maximum intensity."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Hurricane Harvey, which\nkilled 60 people and may end up costing $150 billion, parked over Houston and dumped four feet of rain. The water overwhelmed the sprawling city’s\nflood control systems\n. Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists used up their superlatives describing the storm’s\nsize and impact\n.\nThey should have saved some.\nWIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\nHurricane Irma has become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, category 5 on the\nSaffir-Simpson scale\n—over 800 miles wide, roughly the size of Texas, sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours, gusts over 200 mph—and it has made landfall in the Caribbean. Irma’s\nstorm track\n, the predicted line of its travel, projects its eye gliding north of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba starting Thursday, zooming up Florida to Miami late Sunday, and then reaching Georgia and South Carolina the next day.\nAll hurricanes have a theoretical maximum intensity, a thermodynamic limit on how fast their winds can blow given ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature. Few hurricanes ever actually reach that limit. But as Irma grew and developed, it came very, very close. If Harvey was a perfect storm, Irma is an almost impossible one. “Irma is anomalous,” says\nJim Kossin\n, an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “This is a record-breaker. Unprecedented. Catastrophic.”\nHow did Irma get so powerful? Well.\n“Irma had everything going for it,” says\nKerry Emanuel\n, an atmospheric scientist at MIT who developed the theory behind that theoretical maximum. “The water was warm, the layer of warm water was deep, and there was almost no wind shear, which tends to be very destructive to hurricanes. It can live up to its potential, if you will.”\nThe most efficient hurricanes stretch from the ocean up to to the bottom of the stratosphere, between 50,000 and 60,000 feet in the tropics. That vertical column lowers the air pressure and the storm gets more powerful. Wind shear knocks down the column, but so far Irma hasn’t run into much.\nWill it? That’s tough to predict. Average conditions, as Kossin has written, would predict higher wind shear as Irma approached Florida. But right now the water is warm, and surface temperature doesn’t vary quickly; it’s safe to say Irma will keep that fuel at its feet for some time. “That thermodynamic speed limit in the straits of Florida right now is ridiculously high, a frightening prospect,” Kossin says—maybe more than 200 mph by some calculations. “If a storm spins through there, in the absence of shear it can get really strong.”\nOther possibilities could rein Irma in. Direct hits on the variegated topography of Hispaniola and Cuba, for example, might be disastrous for the islands but could mellow the storm. Irma might even behave in a way that lessens its own impact. “If it moves slowly it could churn up the water, actually cooling the water beneath itself, so it has a self-regulating feature,” Kossin says. “We don’t necessarily expect that to happen.”\nIrma's consequences could be enormous. Already the small island of\nBarbuda\nhad at least one death and lost 90 percent of its built structures. Other islands have had at least eight more deaths. Puerto Rico’s electrical power authority is\npredicting\ntotal loss of power for up to six months.\nAnd Florida? Miami has been trying to fight back\nrising sea level\n—no storm necessary—for years. Like Houston, it’s a sprawling coastal city with lots of development and lots of people up against the water. Here’s where all the superlatives describing Irma may fall short: The problem for Miami might well be the high winds that the Saffir-Simpson scale measures, because buildings there are meant to withstand 185-mph gusts but not the possible 200-mph blowouts meteorologists are worried about. (No, that wouldn’t make Irma a “category 6” hurricane, because\nthere is no such thing\n.)","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to main content](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm\/#main-content)\n\n[SECURITY](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/security\/)\n\n[POLITICS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/politics\/)\n\n[THE BIG STORY](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/big-story\/)\n\n[BUSINESS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/business\/)\n\n[SCIENCE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/science\/)\n\n[CULTURE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/culture\/)\n\n[REVIEWS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/)\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav)\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Security](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/security\/)\n\n[Politics](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/politics\/)\n\n[The Big Story](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/big-story\/)\n\n[Business](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/business\/)\n\n[Science](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/science\/)\n\n[Culture](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/culture\/)\n\n[Reviews](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/)\n\nMore\n\n[The Big Interview](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/the-big-interview\/)[Magazine](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/magazine\/)[Events](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/wired-events\/)[WIRED Insider](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/collection\/wiredinsider\/)[WIRED Consulting](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/wired-consulting\/)\n\n[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav)\n\n[Podcasts](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/podcasts\/)\n\n[Video](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/video\/)\n\n[Livestreams](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/livestreams)\n\n[Merch](https:\/\/shop.wired.com\/)\n\n[Search](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/search\/)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/auth\/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Fhurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION)\n\n[START FREE TRIAL](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_JNY_WIR_GLOBAL_NAV_DRAWER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[![ZOOM IN \\<br\\> Subscribe today for only \\<del\\>\\$4\\<\/del\\> \\<strong\\>\\$2\/month\\<\/strong\\> and get access to exclusive benefits including \\<strong\\>5 all-new premium newsletters.\\<\/strong\\> CTA:SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/686ea38fcb59aaabef7a795d\/original\/pass\/Wired_Zoom_Rollover_300x200_v2a_Shorter.gif?format=original)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_ROLLOVER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/auth\/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Fhurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION)\n\nThe intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to **5 all-new premium newsletters.** [START FREE TRIAL](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_PAYWALL_THIN_METER_ARTICLE_1_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Adam Rogers](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/contributor\/adam-rogers\/)\n\n[Science](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/science)\n\nSep 7, 2017 7:00 AM\n# Hurricane Irma: A Practically Impossible Storm\n\nAs Irma grew and developed, it brushed up against its theoretical maximum intensity.\n\n![Image may contain Road Vehicle Transportation Automobile Car Freeway Highway Tarmac Asphalt and Bus](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/59b08319efd8cf497308eb22\/3:2\/w_2560%2Cc_limit\/irma-TA.jpg)\n\nTraffic in the Florida Keys before Hurricane Irma hits near Homestead, Florida, on September 6, 2017.Al Diaz\/Miami Herald\/AP\n\nSave this story\n\nSave this story\n\nHurricane Harvey, which killed 60 people and may end up costing \\$150 billion, parked over Houston and dumped four feet of rain. The water overwhelmed the sprawling city’s [flood control systems](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/houston-dams-probable-maximum-flood-vs-500-year-flood\/). Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists used up their superlatives describing the storm’s [size and impact](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/photographers-harrowing-stories-of-harveys-destruction\/).\n\nThey should have saved some.\n\n### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\n\nHurricane Irma has become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, category 5 on the [Saffir-Simpson scale](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/07\/150-mph-typhoon-winds-mean-disaster-right-well-not-necessarily\/)—over 800 miles wide, roughly the size of Texas, sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours, gusts over 200 mph—and it has made landfall in the Caribbean. Irma’s [storm track](http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/graphics_at1.shtml?cone), the predicted line of its travel, projects its eye gliding north of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba starting Thursday, zooming up Florida to Miami late Sunday, and then reaching Georgia and South Carolina the next day.\n\n> As Irma grew and developed, it brushed up against its theoretical maximum intensity.\n\nAll hurricanes have a theoretical maximum intensity, a thermodynamic limit on how fast their winds can blow given ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature. Few hurricanes ever actually reach that limit. But as Irma grew and developed, it came very, very close. If Harvey was a perfect storm, Irma is an almost impossible one. “Irma is anomalous,” says [Jim Kossin](http:\/\/www.ssec.wisc.edu\/~kossin\/), an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “This is a record-breaker. Unprecedented. Catastrophic.”\n\nTrending Now\n\n[Predicting Hurricanes in High Definition](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/video\/watch\/predicting-hurricanes-in-high-definition)\n\nHow did Irma get so powerful? Well.\n\n“Irma had everything going for it,” says [Kerry Emanuel](https:\/\/emanuel.mit.edu\/), an atmospheric scientist at MIT who developed the theory behind that theoretical maximum. “The water was warm, the layer of warm water was deep, and there was almost no wind shear, which tends to be very destructive to hurricanes. It can live up to its potential, if you will.”\n\nThe most efficient hurricanes stretch from the ocean up to to the bottom of the stratosphere, between 50,000 and 60,000 feet in the tropics. That vertical column lowers the air pressure and the storm gets more powerful. Wind shear knocks down the column, but so far Irma hasn’t run into much.\n\nWill it? That’s tough to predict. Average conditions, as Kossin has written, would predict higher wind shear as Irma approached Florida. But right now the water is warm, and surface temperature doesn’t vary quickly; it’s safe to say Irma will keep that fuel at its feet for some time. “That thermodynamic speed limit in the straits of Florida right now is ridiculously high, a frightening prospect,” Kossin says—maybe more than 200 mph by some calculations. “If a storm spins through there, in the absence of shear it can get really strong.”\n\nOther possibilities could rein Irma in. Direct hits on the variegated topography of Hispaniola and Cuba, for example, might be disastrous for the islands but could mellow the storm. Irma might even behave in a way that lessens its own impact. “If it moves slowly it could churn up the water, actually cooling the water beneath itself, so it has a self-regulating feature,” Kossin says. “We don’t necessarily expect that to happen.”\n\nIrma's consequences could be enormous. Already the small island of [Barbuda](http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/hurricane-irma-destroys-90-percent-structures-vehicles-barbuda\/story?id=49665358) had at least one death and lost 90 percent of its built structures. Other islands have had at least eight more deaths. Puerto Rico’s electrical power authority is [predicting](https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/irma-strengthens-cat-5-storm-nears-caribbean\/) total loss of power for up to six months.\n\nAnd Florida? Miami has been trying to fight back [rising sea level](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2015\/02\/rising-sea-levels-already-making-miamis-floods-worse\/)—no storm necessary—for years. Like Houston, it’s a sprawling coastal city with lots of development and lots of people up against the water. Here’s where all the superlatives describing Irma may fall short: The problem for Miami might well be the high winds that the Saffir-Simpson scale measures, because buildings there are meant to withstand 185-mph gusts but not the possible 200-mph blowouts meteorologists are worried about. (No, that wouldn’t make Irma a “category 6” hurricane, because [there is no such thing](http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/aboutsshws.php).)\n\nMost Popular\n\n- [![Men Are Buying Hacking Tools to Use Against Their Wives and Friends](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d5582f2f6731ca306d1bb2\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/men-are-buying-hacking-tools-to-use-against-their-wives-and-friends\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  Security News\n  \n  [Men Are Buying Hacking Tools to Use Against Their Wives and Friends](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/men-are-buying-hacking-tools-to-use-against-their-wives-and-friends\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Matt Burgess\n- [![Amazon Pulls Support for Perfectly Fine Older Kindles](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d679c9383b6979c9a47b1a\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/amazon-pulls-support-for-perfectly-fine-older-kindles\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  Gear\n  \n  [Amazon Pulls Support for Perfectly Fine Older Kindles](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/amazon-pulls-support-for-perfectly-fine-older-kindles\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Boone Ashworth\n- [![Anthropic’s New Product Aims to Handle the Hard Part of Building AI Agents](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d55aad5eeab2b48af87714\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/anthropic-launches-claude-managed-agents\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  Artificial Intelligence\n  \n  [Anthropic’s New Product Aims to Handle the Hard Part of Building AI Agents](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/anthropic-launches-claude-managed-agents\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Maxwell Zeff\n- [![Artemis II’s Breathtaking View of the Far Side of the Moon](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d54188e378a93eb5dc3de9\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/artemis-iis-breathtaking-view-of-the-far-side-of-the-moon\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  Space\n  \n  [Artemis II’s Breathtaking View of the Far Side of the Moon](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/artemis-iis-breathtaking-view-of-the-far-side-of-the-moon\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Jorge Garay\n\nBut even worse than that could be the storm surge, ocean water pushed inland on top of the already rising sea. That’s what made Tropical Storm Sandy so problematic for New York. The tide and shape of the coastline have a big effect on storm surge, so its severity with Irma will depend in part on where and when the storm makes landfall.\n\nThe worst-case scenario would make Irma a “grey swan,” an event history wouldn’t necessarily predict but science might, as Emanuel and Princeton engineer [Ning Lin](https:\/\/www.princeton.edu\/cee\/people\/display_person\/?netid=nlin) wrote in an [article](http:\/\/palgrave.nature.com\/nclimate\/journal\/v6\/n1\/full\/nclimate2777.html) in *Nature Climate Change* in 2015. “These are extremes that far exceed previous records but that still are physically possible,” Lin says, “so people do not prepare.”\n\nSure, of course, people [evacuate](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/harvey-evacuees-leave-their-belongings-and-health-records-behind\/), or they stock up on provisions and take shelter. They try to adjust building codes. But in general, humans keep building [sprawling, low-lying cities](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/how-will-houston-handle-the-deluge-of-hurricane-harvey\/) on coasts. And in the face of what scientists know about [climate change](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/climate-change\/), that’s a very bad idea. “The underlying probabilities of very intense storms are going up,” says Emanuel. \"We’ve certainly seen category 5 hurricanes before, but they’re rare. There’s only been three hurricanes that struck the US as category 5, and this, I hope, won’t be the fourth. But it might be.”\n\nMore on Hurricanes\n\n[![How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Harvey](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/59a46589c3906375e3884612\/master\/w_775%2Cc_limit\/Harveyclimatesignal-FA.jpg)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/what-are-the-odds-of-a-super-storm-like-harvey\/)\n\nDisasters\n\n[How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Harvey](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/what-are-the-odds-of-a-super-storm-like-harvey\/)\n\nEric Niiler\n\n[![Harvey Wrecks Up to a Million Cars in Car-Dependent Houston](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/59a9a292912466046449dc95\/master\/w_775%2Cc_limit\/FloodedCars-FA-840672706.jpg)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/harvey-houston-cars-ruined\/)\n\nHurricane Harvey\n\n[Harvey Wrecks Up to a Million Cars in Car-Dependent Houston](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/harvey-houston-cars-ruined\/)\n\nAlex Davies\n\n[![Harvey Evacuees Leave Their Belongings—and Health Records—Behind](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/59a8a3886b0b3078c86c9859\/master\/w_775%2Cc_limit\/houstonhospitals-FA.jpg)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/harvey-evacuees-leave-their-belongings-and-health-records-behind\/)\n\nDisasters\n\n[Harvey Evacuees Leave Their Belongings—and Health Records—Behind](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/harvey-evacuees-leave-their-belongings-and-health-records-behind\/)\n\nMegan Molteni\n\nDon’t ask whether Irma is more powerful than it would have been without climate change. That’s something [researchers will try to unpack](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2015\/11\/climate-change-causes-extreme-weatherbut-not-all-of-it\/) after the storm dissipates, once the numbers are in. “At what point do we just say, ‘Yeah, part of this warm ocean and very, very high potential that we’re seeing must be due to the fact that we’re warming the planet?’ It’s always problematic,” Kossin says. “Once again, we’re left with just a probability, or a likelihood, which is always what we’re left with. A storm like this is more likely now than it was 50 years ago.”\n\nIn 1990, Harvey would have been a 100-year storm. In today’s climate conditions, Emanuel says, it’s a 15-year storm. Demographics, population increases, and land-use changes made its effects even worse.\n\nLook at it this way: If Godzilla emerged from the ocean and laid waste to Houston, then a week later did the same in the Caribbean, and then attacked Miami with atomic breath, the US government would learn to build giant Godzilla-fighting mech suits lickety-split. “We’ve had two outlier, extreme hurricanes back to back. If that doesn’t raise red flags, I don’t know what would,” Kossin says.\n\nOne storm is a problem for FEMA, for Health and Human Services, for the Coast Guard. But multiple storms, one after the other, city after city? That's a policy question. And meanwhile, after Irma, there’s Hurricane Jose, right now a comparatively gentle category 1, spinning toward the Caribbean.\n\n[![](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/65e83bcec9d1003a19b298eb\/1:1\/w_90%2Cc_limit\/adam_rogers.jpg)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/contributor\/adam-rogers\/)\n\n[Adam Rogers](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/contributor\/adam-rogers\/) writes about science and miscellaneous geekery. Before coming to WIRED, Rogers was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and a reporter for Newsweek. He is the author of The New York Times science bestseller Proof: The Science of Booze. ... [Read More](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/contributor\/adam-rogers)\n\nFormer Senior Correspondent\n\nTopics[hurricanes](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/hurricanes\/)[climate change](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/climate-change\/)[weather](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/weather\/)[disasters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/disasters\/)\n\n### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\n\nRead More\n\n[![Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69b967163d7bc629bb6ef27c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/get-ready-for-a-year-of-chaotic-weather-in-the-us\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/get-ready-for-a-year-of-chaotic-weather-in-the-us\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nA massive Western heat wave and a potential El Niño event raise concerns about a long stretch of unpredictable and extreme weather.\n\nMolly Taft\n\n[![Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c421794ff31d9d83686f80\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nIn a letter sent Thursday morning, Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley press the Energy Information Agency to mandate annual electricity disclosure for data centers.\n\nMolly Taft\n\n[![The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69cfc8e8eb0352c3f10a93a3\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-trajectory-of-the-artemis-ii-moon-mission-is-a-feat-of-engineering\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-trajectory-of-the-artemis-ii-moon-mission-is-a-feat-of-engineering\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe astronauts will arrive about 10,300 kilometers beyond our satellite, breaking all previous records for distance from Earth. But how was their route chosen?\n\nLuca Nardi\n\n[![Interstellar Comet 3I\/Atlas Has Another Surprise: It’s Full of Alcohol](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69b00c9e772e2c790732bbac\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-has-another-surprise-its-full-of-alcohol\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Interstellar Comet 3I\/Atlas Has Another Surprise: It’s Full of Alcohol](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-has-another-surprise-its-full-of-alcohol\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAnalysis of the tail of 3I\/Atlas reveals that it contains an anomalous proportion of methanol, a class of alcohol used in fuels.\n\nJorge Garay\n\n[![A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow 'Organ Sacks' to Replace Animal Testing](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69bd923f33c22df804229607\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/a-billionaire-backed-startup-wants-to-grow-organ-sacks-to-replace-animal-testing\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow 'Organ Sacks' to Replace Animal Testing](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/a-billionaire-backed-startup-wants-to-grow-organ-sacks-to-replace-animal-testing\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nR3 Bio has a bold idea for replacing lab animals: genetically-engineered whole organ systems that lack a brain. The long-term goal, says a cofounder, is to make human versions.\n\nEmily Mullin\n\n[![Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c6b32db2e9941fa7bff508\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nCompanies hope that biometric age-verification tech in cartridges could put flavored vapes back in business. But it's unlikely to solve the real problems.\n\nBoone Ashworth\n\n[![Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69cffdb3640c23d3efe3532c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/snake-bros-antivenom-index-zoos-influencers-chris-gifford\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/snake-bros-antivenom-index-zoos-influencers-chris-gifford\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nYour venomous serpent bites you, and the clock is ticking. America’s zookeepers—and a cooler full of rare antivenom—are your best chance of survival.\n\nClaire McNear\n\n[![You Can Approximate Pi by Dropping Needles on the Floor](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69b4529a7f3e3000e5be196d\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/you-can-approximate-pi-by-dropping-needles-on-the-floor\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[You Can Approximate Pi by Dropping Needles on the Floor](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/you-can-approximate-pi-by-dropping-needles-on-the-floor\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nWho needs a supercomputer when you can calculate pi with a box of sewing needles?\n\nRhett Allain\n\n[![‘A Rigged and Dangerous Product’: The Wildest Week for Prediction Markets Yet](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69bec2206219b265976408a9\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-this-was-the-wildest-week-for-prediction-markets-yet\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[‘A Rigged and Dangerous Product’: The Wildest Week for Prediction Markets Yet](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-this-was-the-wildest-week-for-prediction-markets-yet\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAs the prediction market boom continues, backlash is growing, too, with Arizona filing criminal charges against Kalshi and public outcry after Polymarket traders threatened a journalist.\n\nKate Knibbs\n\n[![Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d3b6e624732acbbf30e93c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/artemis-ii-everything-we-know-as-orion-approaches-the-far-side-of-the-moon\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/artemis-ii-everything-we-know-as-orion-approaches-the-far-side-of-the-moon\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nArtemis II remains on course for its lunar flyby as the crew shares historic photos of Earth, tests key systems for future lunar missions, and attempts to fix the toilet.\n\nJavier Carbajal\n\n[![The US Military’s GPS Software Is an \\$8 Billion Mess](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69cbface4423e18d6fcaca64\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-us-militarys-gps-software-is-an-8-billion-mess\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[The US Military’s GPS Software Is an \\$8 Billion Mess](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-us-militarys-gps-software-is-an-8-billion-mess\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System was due for completion in 2016. Ten years later, the software for controlling the military’s GPS satellites still doesn’t work.\n\nStephen Clark, Ars Technica\n\n[![Don’t Listen to Anyone Who Thinks Secession Will Solve Anything](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69b97dfad8d631c623d3318b\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/dont-listen-anyone-who-thinks-secession-will-solve-anything\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Don’t Listen to Anyone Who Thinks Secession Will Solve Anything](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/dont-listen-anyone-who-thinks-secession-will-solve-anything\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAmericans increasingly fantasize about a divorce between red and blue states—but they dread the thought of civil war. You can’t have one without the other.\n\nRyan D. Griffiths\n\n[![ZOOM IN \\<br\\> Insights at the intersection of technology, power, and culture \\<br\\> Subscribe today for only \\<del\\>\\$4\\<\/del\\> \\<strong\\>\\$2\/month\\<\/strong\\> and get access to exclusive benefits including \\<strong\\>5 all-new premium newsletters.\\<\/strong\\> \\<br\\> CTA:SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/686ea46a1d57bf34560db527\/original\/pass\/Wired_Zoom_Footer_Desktop_940x140_v2e.gif?format=original)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_FOOTER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[![WIRED](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/verso\/static\/wired-us\/assets\/logo-reverse.svg)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/)\n\nWIRED is obsessed with what comes next. Through rigorous investigations and game-changing reporting, we tell stories that don’t just reflect the moment—they help create it. When you look back in 10, 20, even 50 years, WIRED will be the publication that led the story of the present, mapped the people, products, and ideas defining it, and explained how those forces forged the future. WIRED: For Future Reference.\n\nMore From WIRED\n\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/subscribe\/)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/newsletter?sourceCode=HeaderAndFooter)\n- [Livestreams](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/livestreams)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/travel\/)\n- [FAQ](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/faq\/)\n- [WIRED Staff](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/wired-staff\/)\n- [WIRED Education](https:\/\/www.wirededucation.com\/)\n- [Editorial Standards](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/wired-on-background-policy\/)\n- [Archive](https:\/\/archive.wired.com\/t\/storefront\/storefront)\n- [RSS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/rss-feeds\/)\n- [Site Map](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/sitemap\/)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/accessibility-help\/)\n\nReviews and Guides\n\n- [Reviews](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/)\n- [Buying Guides](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/buying-guides\/)\n- [Streaming Guides](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/culture-guides\/)\n- [Wearables](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/wearables\/)\n- [Coupons](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/coupons\/)\n- [Gift Guides](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/gift-guides\/)\n\n- [Advertise](https:\/\/www.condenast.com\/brands\/wired)\n- [Contact Us](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/feedback\/)\n- [Manage Account](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/account\/profile)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/wired-jobs\/)\n- [Press Center](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/press\/)\n- [Condé Nast Store](https:\/\/condenaststore.com\/)\n- [User Agreement](https:\/\/www.condenast.com\/user-agreement\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](http:\/\/www.condenast.com\/privacy-policy#privacypolicy)\n- [Your California Privacy Rights](http:\/\/www.condenast.com\/privacy-policy#privacypolicy-california)\n\n© 2026 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. *WIRED* may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. [Ad Choices](http:\/\/www.aboutads.info\/)\n\n###### Select international site\nUnited States\n\n- [Italia](https:\/\/www.wired.it\/)\n- [Japón](https:\/\/wired.jp\/)\n- [Czech Republic & Slovakia](https:\/\/www.wired.cz\/)\n\nYour Privacy Choices","attrs_readable_markdown":"Hurricane Harvey, which killed 60 people and may end up costing \\$150 billion, parked over Houston and dumped four feet of rain. The water overwhelmed the sprawling city’s [flood control systems](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/houston-dams-probable-maximum-flood-vs-500-year-flood\/). Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists used up their superlatives describing the storm’s [size and impact](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/photographers-harrowing-stories-of-harveys-destruction\/).\n\nThey should have saved some.\n\n### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\n\nHurricane Irma has become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, category 5 on the [Saffir-Simpson scale](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/07\/150-mph-typhoon-winds-mean-disaster-right-well-not-necessarily\/)—over 800 miles wide, roughly the size of Texas, sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours, gusts over 200 mph—and it has made landfall in the Caribbean. Irma’s [storm track](http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/graphics_at1.shtml?cone), the predicted line of its travel, projects its eye gliding north of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba starting Thursday, zooming up Florida to Miami late Sunday, and then reaching Georgia and South Carolina the next day.\n\nAll hurricanes have a theoretical maximum intensity, a thermodynamic limit on how fast their winds can blow given ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature. Few hurricanes ever actually reach that limit. But as Irma grew and developed, it came very, very close. If Harvey was a perfect storm, Irma is an almost impossible one. “Irma is anomalous,” says [Jim Kossin](http:\/\/www.ssec.wisc.edu\/~kossin\/), an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “This is a record-breaker. Unprecedented. Catastrophic.”\n\nHow did Irma get so powerful? Well.\n\n“Irma had everything going for it,” says [Kerry Emanuel](https:\/\/emanuel.mit.edu\/), an atmospheric scientist at MIT who developed the theory behind that theoretical maximum. “The water was warm, the layer of warm water was deep, and there was almost no wind shear, which tends to be very destructive to hurricanes. It can live up to its potential, if you will.”\n\nThe most efficient hurricanes stretch from the ocean up to to the bottom of the stratosphere, between 50,000 and 60,000 feet in the tropics. That vertical column lowers the air pressure and the storm gets more powerful. Wind shear knocks down the column, but so far Irma hasn’t run into much.\n\nWill it? That’s tough to predict. Average conditions, as Kossin has written, would predict higher wind shear as Irma approached Florida. But right now the water is warm, and surface temperature doesn’t vary quickly; it’s safe to say Irma will keep that fuel at its feet for some time. “That thermodynamic speed limit in the straits of Florida right now is ridiculously high, a frightening prospect,” Kossin says—maybe more than 200 mph by some calculations. “If a storm spins through there, in the absence of shear it can get really strong.”\n\nOther possibilities could rein Irma in. Direct hits on the variegated topography of Hispaniola and Cuba, for example, might be disastrous for the islands but could mellow the storm. Irma might even behave in a way that lessens its own impact. “If it moves slowly it could churn up the water, actually cooling the water beneath itself, so it has a self-regulating feature,” Kossin says. “We don’t necessarily expect that to happen.”\n\nIrma's consequences could be enormous. Already the small island of [Barbuda](http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/hurricane-irma-destroys-90-percent-structures-vehicles-barbuda\/story?id=49665358) had at least one death and lost 90 percent of its built structures. Other islands have had at least eight more deaths. Puerto Rico’s electrical power authority is [predicting](https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/irma-strengthens-cat-5-storm-nears-caribbean\/) total loss of power for up to six months.\n\nAnd Florida? Miami has been trying to fight back [rising sea level](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2015\/02\/rising-sea-levels-already-making-miamis-floods-worse\/)—no storm necessary—for years. Like Houston, it’s a sprawling coastal city with lots of development and lots of people up against the water. Here’s where all the superlatives describing Irma may fall short: The problem for Miami might well be the high winds that the Saffir-Simpson scale measures, because buildings there are meant to withstand 185-mph gusts but not the possible 200-mph blowouts meteorologists are worried about. (No, that wouldn’t make Irma a “category 6” hurricane, because [there is no such thing](http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/aboutsshws.php).)","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	Hurricane Harvey, which killed 60 people and may end up costing $150 billion, parked over Houston and dumped four feet of rain. The water overwhelmed the sprawling city’s flood control systems . Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists used up their superlatives describing the storm’s size and impact . They should have saved some. WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. Hurricane Irma has become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale —over 800 miles wide, roughly the size of Texas, sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours, gusts over 200 mph—and it has made landfall in the Caribbean. Irma’s storm track , the predicted line of its travel, projects its eye gliding north of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba starting Thursday, zooming up Florida to Miami late Sunday, and then reaching Georgia and South Carolina the next day. All hurricanes have a theoretical maximum intensity, a thermodynamic limit on how fast their winds can blow given ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature. Few hurricanes ever actually reach that limit. But as Irma grew and developed, it came very, very close. If Harvey was a perfect storm, Irma is an almost impossible one. “Irma is anomalous,” says Jim Kossin , an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “This is a record-breaker. Unprecedented. Catastrophic.” How did Irma get so powerful? Well. “Irma had everything going for it,” says Kerry Emanuel , an atmospheric scientist at MIT who developed the theory behind that theoretical maximum. “The water was warm, the layer of warm water was deep, and there was almost no wind shear, which tends to be very destructive to hurricanes. It can live up to its potential, if you will.” The most efficient hurricanes stretch from the ocean up to to the bottom of the stratosphere, between 50,000 and 60,000 feet in the tropics. That vertical column lowers the air pressure and the storm gets more powerful. Wind shear knocks down the column, but so far Irma hasn’t run into much. Will it? That’s tough to predict. Average conditions, as Kossin has written, would predict higher wind shear as Irma approached Florida. But right now the water is warm, and surface temperature doesn’t vary quickly; it’s safe to say Irma will keep that fuel at its feet for some time. “That thermodynamic speed limit in the straits of Florida right now is ridiculously high, a frightening prospect,” Kossin says—maybe more than 200 mph by some calculations. “If a storm spins through there, in the absence of shear it can get really strong.” Other possibilities could rein Irma in. Direct hits on the variegated topography of Hispaniola and Cuba, for example, might be disastrous for the islands but could mellow the storm. Irma might even behave in a way that lessens its own impact. “If it moves slowly it could churn up the water, actually cooling the water beneath itself, so it has a self-regulating feature,” Kossin says. “We don’t necessarily expect that to happen.” Irma's consequences could be enormous. Already the small island of Barbuda had at least one death and lost 90 percent of its built structures. Other islands have had at least eight more deaths. Puerto Rico’s electrical power authority is predicting total loss of power for up to six months. And Florida? Miami has been trying to fight back rising sea level —no storm necessary—for years. Like Houston, it’s a sprawling coastal city with lots of development and lots of people up against the water. Here’s where all the superlatives describing Irma may fall short: The problem for Miami might well be the high winds that the Saffir-Simpson scale measures, because buildings there are meant to withstand 185-mph gusts but not the possible 200-mph blowouts meteorologists are worried about. (No, that wouldn’t make Irma a “category 6” hurricane, because there is no such thing .)
Markdown	[Skip to main content](https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm/#main-content) [SECURITY](https://www.wired.com/category/security/) [POLITICS](https://www.wired.com/category/politics/) [THE BIG STORY](https://www.wired.com/category/big-story/) [BUSINESS](https://www.wired.com/category/business/) [SCIENCE](https://www.wired.com/category/science/) [CULTURE](https://www.wired.com/category/culture/) [REVIEWS](https://www.wired.com/category/gear/) [SUBSCRIBE](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Newsletters](https://www.wired.com/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav) [SUBSCRIBE](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Security](https://www.wired.com/category/security/) [Politics](https://www.wired.com/category/politics/) [The Big Story](https://www.wired.com/category/big-story/) [Business](https://www.wired.com/category/business/) [Science](https://www.wired.com/category/science/) [Culture](https://www.wired.com/category/culture/) [Reviews](https://www.wired.com/category/gear/) More [The Big Interview](https://www.wired.com/the-big-interview/)[Magazine](https://www.wired.com/magazine/)[Events](https://www.wired.com/tag/wired-events/)[WIRED Insider](https://www.wired.com/collection/wiredinsider/)[WIRED Consulting](https://www.wired.com/tag/wired-consulting/) [Newsletters](https://www.wired.com/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav) [Podcasts](https://www.wired.com/podcasts/) [Video](https://www.wired.com/video/) [Livestreams](https://www.wired.com/livestreams) [Merch](https://shop.wired.com/) [Search](https://www.wired.com/search/) [Sign In](https://www.wired.com/auth/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Fhurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION) [START FREE TRIAL](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_JNY_WIR_GLOBAL_NAV_DRAWER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [![ZOOM IN \<br\> Subscribe today for only \<del\>\$4\</del\> \<strong\>\$2/month\</strong\> and get access to exclusive benefits including \<strong\>5 all-new premium newsletters.\</strong\> CTA:SUBSCRIBE](https://assets.bonappetit.com/photos/686ea38fcb59aaabef7a795d/original/pass/Wired_Zoom_Rollover_300x200_v2a_Shorter.gif?format=original)](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_ROLLOVER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Sign In](https://www.wired.com/auth/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Fhurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION) The intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to 5 all-new premium newsletters. [START FREE TRIAL](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_PAYWALL_THIN_METER_ARTICLE_1_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Adam Rogers](https://www.wired.com/contributor/adam-rogers/) [Science](https://www.wired.com/category/science) Sep 7, 2017 7:00 AM # Hurricane Irma: A Practically Impossible Storm As Irma grew and developed, it brushed up against its theoretical maximum intensity. ![Image may contain Road Vehicle Transportation Automobile Car Freeway Highway Tarmac Asphalt and Bus](https://media.wired.com/photos/59b08319efd8cf497308eb22/3:2/w_2560%2Cc_limit/irma-TA.jpg) Traffic in the Florida Keys before Hurricane Irma hits near Homestead, Florida, on September 6, 2017.Al Diaz/Miami Herald/AP Save this story Save this story Hurricane Harvey, which killed 60 people and may end up costing \$150 billion, parked over Houston and dumped four feet of rain. The water overwhelmed the sprawling city’s [flood control systems](https://www.wired.com/story/houston-dams-probable-maximum-flood-vs-500-year-flood/). Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists used up their superlatives describing the storm’s [size and impact](https://www.wired.com/story/photographers-harrowing-stories-of-harveys-destruction/). They should have saved some. ### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. Hurricane Irma has become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, category 5 on the [Saffir-Simpson scale](https://www.wired.com/2016/07/150-mph-typhoon-winds-mean-disaster-right-well-not-necessarily/)—over 800 miles wide, roughly the size of Texas, sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours, gusts over 200 mph—and it has made landfall in the Caribbean. Irma’s [storm track](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone), the predicted line of its travel, projects its eye gliding north of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba starting Thursday, zooming up Florida to Miami late Sunday, and then reaching Georgia and South Carolina the next day. > As Irma grew and developed, it brushed up against its theoretical maximum intensity. All hurricanes have a theoretical maximum intensity, a thermodynamic limit on how fast their winds can blow given ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature. Few hurricanes ever actually reach that limit. But as Irma grew and developed, it came very, very close. If Harvey was a perfect storm, Irma is an almost impossible one. “Irma is anomalous,” says [Jim Kossin](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~kossin/), an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “This is a record-breaker. Unprecedented. Catastrophic.” Trending Now [Predicting Hurricanes in High Definition](https://www.wired.com/video/watch/predicting-hurricanes-in-high-definition) How did Irma get so powerful? Well. “Irma had everything going for it,” says [Kerry Emanuel](https://emanuel.mit.edu/), an atmospheric scientist at MIT who developed the theory behind that theoretical maximum. “The water was warm, the layer of warm water was deep, and there was almost no wind shear, which tends to be very destructive to hurricanes. It can live up to its potential, if you will.” The most efficient hurricanes stretch from the ocean up to to the bottom of the stratosphere, between 50,000 and 60,000 feet in the tropics. That vertical column lowers the air pressure and the storm gets more powerful. Wind shear knocks down the column, but so far Irma hasn’t run into much. Will it? That’s tough to predict. Average conditions, as Kossin has written, would predict higher wind shear as Irma approached Florida. But right now the water is warm, and surface temperature doesn’t vary quickly; it’s safe to say Irma will keep that fuel at its feet for some time. “That thermodynamic speed limit in the straits of Florida right now is ridiculously high, a frightening prospect,” Kossin says—maybe more than 200 mph by some calculations. “If a storm spins through there, in the absence of shear it can get really strong.” Other possibilities could rein Irma in. Direct hits on the variegated topography of Hispaniola and Cuba, for example, might be disastrous for the islands but could mellow the storm. Irma might even behave in a way that lessens its own impact. “If it moves slowly it could churn up the water, actually cooling the water beneath itself, so it has a self-regulating feature,” Kossin says. “We don’t necessarily expect that to happen.” Irma's consequences could be enormous. Already the small island of [Barbuda](http://abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-irma-destroys-90-percent-structures-vehicles-barbuda/story?id=49665358) had at least one death and lost 90 percent of its built structures. Other islands have had at least eight more deaths. Puerto Rico’s electrical power authority is [predicting](https://www.courthousenews.com/irma-strengthens-cat-5-storm-nears-caribbean/) total loss of power for up to six months. And Florida? Miami has been trying to fight back [rising sea level](https://www.wired.com/2015/02/rising-sea-levels-already-making-miamis-floods-worse/)—no storm necessary—for years. Like Houston, it’s a sprawling coastal city with lots of development and lots of people up against the water. Here’s where all the superlatives describing Irma may fall short: The problem for Miami might well be the high winds that the Saffir-Simpson scale measures, because buildings there are meant to withstand 185-mph gusts but not the possible 200-mph blowouts meteorologists are worried about. (No, that wouldn’t make Irma a “category 6” hurricane, because [there is no such thing](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php).) Most Popular - [![Men Are Buying Hacking Tools to Use Against Their Wives and Friends](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d5582f2f6731ca306d1bb2/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/men-are-buying-hacking-tools-to-use-against-their-wives-and-friends/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) Security News [Men Are Buying Hacking Tools to Use Against Their Wives and Friends](https://www.wired.com/story/men-are-buying-hacking-tools-to-use-against-their-wives-and-friends/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) By Matt Burgess - [![Amazon Pulls Support for Perfectly Fine Older Kindles](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d679c9383b6979c9a47b1a/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-pulls-support-for-perfectly-fine-older-kindles/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) Gear [Amazon Pulls Support for Perfectly Fine Older Kindles](https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-pulls-support-for-perfectly-fine-older-kindles/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) By Boone Ashworth - [![Anthropic’s New Product Aims to Handle the Hard Part of Building AI Agents](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d55aad5eeab2b48af87714/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-launches-claude-managed-agents/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) Artificial Intelligence [Anthropic’s New Product Aims to Handle the Hard Part of Building AI Agents](https://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-launches-claude-managed-agents/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) By Maxwell Zeff - [![Artemis II’s Breathtaking View of the Far Side of the Moon](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d54188e378a93eb5dc3de9/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/artemis-iis-breathtaking-view-of-the-far-side-of-the-moon/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) Space [Artemis II’s Breathtaking View of the Far Side of the Moon](https://www.wired.com/story/artemis-iis-breathtaking-view-of-the-far-side-of-the-moon/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_bfe584e6-4ffd-478c-abd3-210b98b31f07_popular4-2) By Jorge Garay But even worse than that could be the storm surge, ocean water pushed inland on top of the already rising sea. That’s what made Tropical Storm Sandy so problematic for New York. The tide and shape of the coastline have a big effect on storm surge, so its severity with Irma will depend in part on where and when the storm makes landfall. The worst-case scenario would make Irma a “grey swan,” an event history wouldn’t necessarily predict but science might, as Emanuel and Princeton engineer [Ning Lin](https://www.princeton.edu/cee/people/display_person/?netid=nlin) wrote in an [article](http://palgrave.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n1/full/nclimate2777.html) in Nature Climate Change in 2015. “These are extremes that far exceed previous records but that still are physically possible,” Lin says, “so people do not prepare.” Sure, of course, people [evacuate](https://www.wired.com/story/harvey-evacuees-leave-their-belongings-and-health-records-behind/), or they stock up on provisions and take shelter. They try to adjust building codes. But in general, humans keep building [sprawling, low-lying cities](https://www.wired.com/story/how-will-houston-handle-the-deluge-of-hurricane-harvey/) on coasts. And in the face of what scientists know about [climate change](https://www.wired.com/tag/climate-change/), that’s a very bad idea. “The underlying probabilities of very intense storms are going up,” says Emanuel. "We’ve certainly seen category 5 hurricanes before, but they’re rare. There’s only been three hurricanes that struck the US as category 5, and this, I hope, won’t be the fourth. But it might be.” More on Hurricanes [![How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Harvey](https://media.wired.com/photos/59a46589c3906375e3884612/master/w_775%2Cc_limit/Harveyclimatesignal-FA.jpg)](https://www.wired.com/story/what-are-the-odds-of-a-super-storm-like-harvey/) Disasters [How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Harvey](https://www.wired.com/story/what-are-the-odds-of-a-super-storm-like-harvey/) Eric Niiler [![Harvey Wrecks Up to a Million Cars in Car-Dependent Houston](https://media.wired.com/photos/59a9a292912466046449dc95/master/w_775%2Cc_limit/FloodedCars-FA-840672706.jpg)](https://www.wired.com/story/harvey-houston-cars-ruined/) Hurricane Harvey [Harvey Wrecks Up to a Million Cars in Car-Dependent Houston](https://www.wired.com/story/harvey-houston-cars-ruined/) Alex Davies [![Harvey Evacuees Leave Their Belongings—and Health Records—Behind](https://media.wired.com/photos/59a8a3886b0b3078c86c9859/master/w_775%2Cc_limit/houstonhospitals-FA.jpg)](https://www.wired.com/story/harvey-evacuees-leave-their-belongings-and-health-records-behind/) Disasters [Harvey Evacuees Leave Their Belongings—and Health Records—Behind](https://www.wired.com/story/harvey-evacuees-leave-their-belongings-and-health-records-behind/) Megan Molteni Don’t ask whether Irma is more powerful than it would have been without climate change. That’s something [researchers will try to unpack](https://www.wired.com/2015/11/climate-change-causes-extreme-weatherbut-not-all-of-it/) after the storm dissipates, once the numbers are in. “At what point do we just say, ‘Yeah, part of this warm ocean and very, very high potential that we’re seeing must be due to the fact that we’re warming the planet?’ It’s always problematic,” Kossin says. “Once again, we’re left with just a probability, or a likelihood, which is always what we’re left with. A storm like this is more likely now than it was 50 years ago.” In 1990, Harvey would have been a 100-year storm. In today’s climate conditions, Emanuel says, it’s a 15-year storm. Demographics, population increases, and land-use changes made its effects even worse. Look at it this way: If Godzilla emerged from the ocean and laid waste to Houston, then a week later did the same in the Caribbean, and then attacked Miami with atomic breath, the US government would learn to build giant Godzilla-fighting mech suits lickety-split. “We’ve had two outlier, extreme hurricanes back to back. If that doesn’t raise red flags, I don’t know what would,” Kossin says. One storm is a problem for FEMA, for Health and Human Services, for the Coast Guard. But multiple storms, one after the other, city after city? That's a policy question. And meanwhile, after Irma, there’s Hurricane Jose, right now a comparatively gentle category 1, spinning toward the Caribbean. [![](https://media.wired.com/photos/65e83bcec9d1003a19b298eb/1:1/w_90%2Cc_limit/adam_rogers.jpg)](https://www.wired.com/contributor/adam-rogers/) [Adam Rogers](https://www.wired.com/contributor/adam-rogers/) writes about science and miscellaneous geekery. Before coming to WIRED, Rogers was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and a reporter for Newsweek. He is the author of The New York Times science bestseller Proof: The Science of Booze. ... [Read More](https://www.wired.com/contributor/adam-rogers) Former Senior Correspondent Topics[hurricanes](https://www.wired.com/tag/hurricanes/)[climate change](https://www.wired.com/tag/climate-change/)[weather](https://www.wired.com/tag/weather/)[disasters](https://www.wired.com/tag/disasters/) ### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. Read More [![Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US](https://media.wired.com/photos/69b967163d7bc629bb6ef27c/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/get-ready-for-a-year-of-chaotic-weather-in-the-us/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US](https://www.wired.com/story/get-ready-for-a-year-of-chaotic-weather-in-the-us/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) A massive Western heat wave and a potential El Niño event raise concerns about a long stretch of unpredictable and extreme weather. Molly Taft [![Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use](https://media.wired.com/photos/69c421794ff31d9d83686f80/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use](https://www.wired.com/story/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) In a letter sent Thursday morning, Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley press the Energy Information Agency to mandate annual electricity disclosure for data centers. Molly Taft [![The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering](https://media.wired.com/photos/69cfc8e8eb0352c3f10a93a3/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/the-trajectory-of-the-artemis-ii-moon-mission-is-a-feat-of-engineering/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering](https://www.wired.com/story/the-trajectory-of-the-artemis-ii-moon-mission-is-a-feat-of-engineering/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) The astronauts will arrive about 10,300 kilometers beyond our satellite, breaking all previous records for distance from Earth. But how was their route chosen? 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Emily Mullin [![Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are](https://media.wired.com/photos/69c6b32db2e9941fa7bff508/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are](https://www.wired.com/story/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) Companies hope that biometric age-verification tech in cartridges could put flavored vapes back in business. But it's unlikely to solve the real problems. Boone Ashworth [![Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them](https://media.wired.com/photos/69cffdb3640c23d3efe3532c/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/snake-bros-antivenom-index-zoos-influencers-chris-gifford/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them](https://www.wired.com/snake-bros-antivenom-index-zoos-influencers-chris-gifford/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) Your venomous serpent bites you, and the clock is ticking. America’s zookeepers—and a cooler full of rare antivenom—are your best chance of survival. Claire McNear [![You Can Approximate Pi by Dropping Needles on the Floor](https://media.wired.com/photos/69b4529a7f3e3000e5be196d/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/you-can-approximate-pi-by-dropping-needles-on-the-floor/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [You Can Approximate Pi by Dropping Needles on the Floor](https://www.wired.com/story/you-can-approximate-pi-by-dropping-needles-on-the-floor/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) Who needs a supercomputer when you can calculate pi with a box of sewing needles? Rhett Allain [![‘A Rigged and Dangerous Product’: The Wildest Week for Prediction Markets Yet](https://media.wired.com/photos/69bec2206219b265976408a9/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/why-this-was-the-wildest-week-for-prediction-markets-yet/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [‘A Rigged and Dangerous Product’: The Wildest Week for Prediction Markets Yet](https://www.wired.com/story/why-this-was-the-wildest-week-for-prediction-markets-yet/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) As the prediction market boom continues, backlash is growing, too, with Arizona filing criminal charges against Kalshi and public outcry after Polymarket traders threatened a journalist. Kate Knibbs [![Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d3b6e624732acbbf30e93c/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/artemis-ii-everything-we-know-as-orion-approaches-the-far-side-of-the-moon/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon](https://www.wired.com/story/artemis-ii-everything-we-know-as-orion-approaches-the-far-side-of-the-moon/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) Artemis II remains on course for its lunar flyby as the crew shares historic photos of Earth, tests key systems for future lunar missions, and attempts to fix the toilet. Javier Carbajal [![The US Military’s GPS Software Is an \$8 Billion Mess](https://media.wired.com/photos/69cbface4423e18d6fcaca64/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-militarys-gps-software-is-an-8-billion-mess/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [The US Military’s GPS Software Is an \$8 Billion Mess](https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-militarys-gps-software-is-an-8-billion-mess/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) The GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System was due for completion in 2016. Ten years later, the software for controlling the military’s GPS satellites still doesn’t work. Stephen Clark, Ars Technica [![Don’t Listen to Anyone Who Thinks Secession Will Solve Anything](https://media.wired.com/photos/69b97dfad8d631c623d3318b/16:9/w_640%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/dont-listen-anyone-who-thinks-secession-will-solve-anything/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) [Don’t Listen to Anyone Who Thinks Secession Will Solve Anything](https://www.wired.com/story/dont-listen-anyone-who-thinks-secession-will-solve-anything/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_42120a72-c219-4948-8081-235866767496_roberta-similarity1) Americans increasingly fantasize about a divorce between red and blue states—but they dread the thought of civil war. You can’t have one without the other. Ryan D. 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Readable Markdown	Hurricane Harvey, which killed 60 people and may end up costing \$150 billion, parked over Houston and dumped four feet of rain. The water overwhelmed the sprawling city’s [flood control systems](https://www.wired.com/story/houston-dams-probable-maximum-flood-vs-500-year-flood/). Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists used up their superlatives describing the storm’s [size and impact](https://www.wired.com/story/photographers-harrowing-stories-of-harveys-destruction/). They should have saved some. ### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. Hurricane Irma has become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, category 5 on the [Saffir-Simpson scale](https://www.wired.com/2016/07/150-mph-typhoon-winds-mean-disaster-right-well-not-necessarily/)—over 800 miles wide, roughly the size of Texas, sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours, gusts over 200 mph—and it has made landfall in the Caribbean. Irma’s [storm track](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone), the predicted line of its travel, projects its eye gliding north of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba starting Thursday, zooming up Florida to Miami late Sunday, and then reaching Georgia and South Carolina the next day. All hurricanes have a theoretical maximum intensity, a thermodynamic limit on how fast their winds can blow given ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature. Few hurricanes ever actually reach that limit. But as Irma grew and developed, it came very, very close. If Harvey was a perfect storm, Irma is an almost impossible one. “Irma is anomalous,” says [Jim Kossin](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~kossin/), an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “This is a record-breaker. Unprecedented. Catastrophic.” How did Irma get so powerful? Well. “Irma had everything going for it,” says [Kerry Emanuel](https://emanuel.mit.edu/), an atmospheric scientist at MIT who developed the theory behind that theoretical maximum. “The water was warm, the layer of warm water was deep, and there was almost no wind shear, which tends to be very destructive to hurricanes. It can live up to its potential, if you will.” The most efficient hurricanes stretch from the ocean up to to the bottom of the stratosphere, between 50,000 and 60,000 feet in the tropics. That vertical column lowers the air pressure and the storm gets more powerful. Wind shear knocks down the column, but so far Irma hasn’t run into much. Will it? That’s tough to predict. Average conditions, as Kossin has written, would predict higher wind shear as Irma approached Florida. But right now the water is warm, and surface temperature doesn’t vary quickly; it’s safe to say Irma will keep that fuel at its feet for some time. “That thermodynamic speed limit in the straits of Florida right now is ridiculously high, a frightening prospect,” Kossin says—maybe more than 200 mph by some calculations. “If a storm spins through there, in the absence of shear it can get really strong.” Other possibilities could rein Irma in. Direct hits on the variegated topography of Hispaniola and Cuba, for example, might be disastrous for the islands but could mellow the storm. Irma might even behave in a way that lessens its own impact. “If it moves slowly it could churn up the water, actually cooling the water beneath itself, so it has a self-regulating feature,” Kossin says. “We don’t necessarily expect that to happen.” Irma's consequences could be enormous. Already the small island of [Barbuda](http://abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-irma-destroys-90-percent-structures-vehicles-barbuda/story?id=49665358) had at least one death and lost 90 percent of its built structures. Other islands have had at least eight more deaths. Puerto Rico’s electrical power authority is [predicting](https://www.courthousenews.com/irma-strengthens-cat-5-storm-nears-caribbean/) total loss of power for up to six months. And Florida? Miami has been trying to fight back [rising sea level](https://www.wired.com/2015/02/rising-sea-levels-already-making-miamis-floods-worse/)—no storm necessary—for years. Like Houston, it’s a sprawling coastal city with lots of development and lots of people up against the water. Here’s where all the superlatives describing Irma may fall short: The problem for Miami might well be the high winds that the Saffir-Simpson scale measures, because buildings there are meant to withstand 185-mph gusts but not the possible 200-mph blowouts meteorologists are worried about. (No, that wouldn’t make Irma a “category 6” hurricane, because [there is no such thing](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php).)
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