Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane Monday.
As of the 7 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, it has maximum sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central pressure of 897 mb.
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This pressure adds Milton to the number 5 spot of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record, based on pressure. Since consistent records were started in 1979, it is the fourth most intense.
The storm is expected to weaken a little bit over the coming days, but will still be extremely dangerous and powerful when it is forecasted to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, which is still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Helene.
Here are some of the most intense Hurricanes, based on pressure, to ever develop in the Atlantic.
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma from Oct. 2005 holds the record for the lowest central pressure in an Atlantic basin hurricane.
Wilma’s pressure would drop to 882 mb, becoming an extremely powerful Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph at its peak strength.
According to the National Hurricane Center, 23 deaths were attributed to Wilma. 12 were in Haiti, one in Jamaica, four in Mexico, five in Florida, and one in the Bahamas.
Hurricane Gilbert
In Sept. 1988, Hurricane Gilbert formed and still holds the record as the second most intense hurricane based on pressure in the Atlantic basin.
Gilbert brought devastation to the island of Jamaica and made landfall twice in Mexico, the first on the Yucatan Peninsula and the second in northeast Mexico, north of La Pesca.
Over 300 people were killed in Gilbert, the majority of those being in Mexico.
Parts of South Texas were also affected by high winds and tornadoes associated with Gilbert.
Hurricane Rita
Houstonians who were living here in 2005 definitely remember the response to Hurricane Rita.
Following just a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, Rita remains the most intense storm in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record.
At it’s peak, Rita was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph. The minimum central pressure was 895 mb at Rita’s strongest point.
Though Rita would weaken to a Category 3 before making landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border, it would still cause catastrophic damage across the region.
The National Hurricane Center says seven deaths were directly attributed to Rita with another 55 being considered indirectly related. The indirect deaths were from factors ranging from deaths during one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history and carbon monoxide poisoning.