Many hurricanes slowly build strength as they churn across open ocean. But Hurricane Beryl, like Ian in 2022 and a string of other recent hurricanes, grew from a tropical storm to a Category 4 monster with stunning speed, its winds doubling from 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) per hour to 130 mph in just 24 hours. Meteorologists call that kind of dramatic shift “rapid intensification” and say that climate change appears to be making the effect more common.

The technical definition, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is when a hurricane’s winds increase by 35 mph or more in 24 hours or less. Multiple studies have shown that rapid intensification has become more common over the past three decades, pushing large storms to become even stronger. It’s happened with some of the most devastating storms to slam North American shores in recent years. In 2023, for instance, Hurricane Otis grew into a Category 5 storm as it approached Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast, where it killed at least 52 people. In 2022, Hurricane Ian underwent rapid intensification before striking first Cuba then Florida, killing more than 150 people and causing $112 billion in damage.