How climate change is impacting Hurricane Ian’s disastrous path

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

As Hurricane Ian continues to make its way across Florida's coast, meteorologists say human-caused climate change is linked to this and other disastrous weather events.

According to Climate Central, eight out of the 10 most-costly weather disasters in U.S. history were hurricanes.

"Hurricane Ian is a high-end, Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour," said Matt Beitscher, who is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

Hurricane Ian rapidly strengthened throughout its path and touched down Wednesday in Florida.

"We are noticing over the last several years a lot more of these intense hurricanes that rapidly intensify and approach the United States coastline," Beitscher said. "Climate change has been shown to warm the waters in the Gulf of Mexico warm sea temperatures across the globe, and that allows for more energy to be available to these hurricanes."

Rising-sea surface temperatures and rapid intensification are causing hurricanes to be more intense at faster rates, Beitscher said. Rapid intensification involves a hurricane's wind strengthening quickly over a short amount of time.

Beitscher said there will not be any immediate, negative impacts from Hurricane Ian in Missouri. But as the climate continues to change, the state is likely to see more-extreme weather events.

“We started off (this summer) extremely dry, we were actually in drought for most of the state at one point or another going into July," Beitscher said. "Then July 26-on, until early August, we had the wettest two weeks the St. Louis region or Missouri region has ever seen."

Beitscher said St. Louis had a lot more rain than Mid-Missouri, and parts of this region did not have enough rain to alleviate a drought.