Hurricane Milton: NASA animation reveals how the storm reached Category 5 strength so quickly - as Florida braces for catastrophe

As Hurricane Milton races towards Florida, the state is braced for a once-in-a-century natural disaster. 

Milton has become the fastest Atlantic storm to reach category 5 strength - with wind speeds leaping from 35 mph to 160 mph in just two days.

In a terrifying animation, NASA has revealed exactly how the storm became so powerful so quickly. 

'The hurricane's rapid intensification to a Category 5 was fueled by unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico,' the space agency explained. 

'Human-driven warming is linked to stronger and more rapidly intensifying hurricanes.'

Hurricane Milton began in the Bay of Campeche, in the South of the Gulf of Mexico where a seasonal low pressure area called the Central American gyre had been causing thunderstorms.

By 10:00am CDT on October 5, these storms had consolidated enough to be considered a 'tropical depression' - the lowest grade of cyclone.

But just 2.5 hours later, the depression had already transformed into a tropical storm.

And, by 2:00am the next morning, that region of low pressure had transformed into a full hurricane with sustained winds over 80mph.

NASA's animation shows data gathered from NASA's IMERG satellite, beginning just before Milton strengthened into a hurricane.

In the video, you can watch as Milton turns from a relatively non-threatening tropical storm to a massive hurricane. 

The darker red and orange regions show areas where rainfall is heavier and the storm more powerful.

Even in these early moments, you can see how the band of intense rain running from north to south rapidly condenses down into a more compact core of heavy rain.

In a blog post, NASA meteorologist Stephen Lang writes: 'After forming in the Bay of Campeche, Hurricane Milton underwent a remarkable period of rapid intensification.'  

In the second part of the animation, NASA uses microwave imagery taken by the GPM Core Observatory satellite to show Milton as it was on the morning of October 7.

This allows us to take a 3D look inside the structure of the hurricane and understand what makes it so powerful.

In the animation colours from green up to red and magenta show the intensity of rainfall while colours from light blue to purple show the intensity of frozen precipitation such as snow and hail.

This interior view shows that Milton has an extremely compact centre as shown by the tight ring of dark blue pillars.

This indicates that there is intense thunderstorm activity in the northern part of the hurricane's eyewall - the region of storm around the calmer centre.

Mr Lang writes: 'This results in large amounts of heat being released into the core of the storm and is usually a good indication of further strengthening.'

Another indication that Milton was ready to become even more powerful is the height of the storm.

In the 3D animation, you will see that some of the dark blue towers of frozen precipitation rise more than 6 miles (10km) into the sky.

'The height of this precipitation is also a good indication of thunderstorm intensity,' says Mr Lang.

At the time this data was recorded, Milton was a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 90 mph.

However, the storm soon began to rapidly gain power and by 1:00pm CDT that day sustained windspeeds were in excess of 175 mph.

Within two days of its formation, the pressure in Milton's central region plummeted from 1007 mb to just 897 mb.

It is this low-pressure region which sucks in air to create the powerful swirling winds you can see in the first part of the animation.

This makes Hurricane Milton the fifth strongest hurricane on record in terms of central pressure and only the sixth Atlantic storm to ever have a central pressure below 900 mb.

On its current path, Hurricane Milton is on a direct collision course with Florida's Tampa region and is set to demolish huge areas of the coastline.

Experts warn that as the storm makes landfall tonight, the region will be battered by 15ft (4.5 metre) storm surges and devastating winds.

Authorities warn any residents who remain behind risk near-certain death.

Almost 6 million people are subject to mandatory evacuation orders, with officials warning that anyone who refuses to leave will be left to fend for themselves as first responders are not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.

While thousands of fleeing residents clogged the highways out of the state earlier this week, the roads this morning are completely empty. 

US President Joe Biden begged Florida residents to flee last night, warning that the Category 5 storm could turn into the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century.

'It's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole,' Biden said from the White House on Tuesday, urging those under orders to leave to 'evacuate now, now, now.'

Likewise, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor delivered a grave warning to her constituents, announcing flatly: 'If you choose to stay… you are going to die.'

She went on to note that the storm surge forecast for her city would be deep enough to submerge entire houses and concluded: 'So if you're in it, basically that's the coffin that you're in.'

Meanwhile, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have made a last-ditch attempt to gather vital data from the storm.

Shocking video shows as a team of scientists are tossed around the cabin of their research plane as they fly directly through the storm.

Their recordings may yield data that will help future researchers predict the path of hurricanes with even greater accuracy, giving civilians more time to evacuate if needed.