Meteorologist Chokes Up Reporting on Potential Impact of ‘Horrific’ Hurricane Milton

During his Oct. 7 broadcast, WTV meteorologist John Morales visibly appeared shaken as he spoke about Hurricane Milton. 

“It’s just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane,” Morales shared during the broadcast. He then spoke about the storm’s 160 mph winds becoming more dangerous while gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico’s warm water.

The meteorologist said about Hurricane Milton’s fast-paced movement, “It has dropped 50milibars in 10 hours.” 

He then started to choke up. “Um,” he said. “I apologize. This is just horrific.  I mean, the seas are just so incredibly, incredibly hot, a record hot, as you might imagine.”

The meteorologist then declared, “You know what’s driving that? I don’t need to tell you. Global warming, and climate change are leading to this and becoming an increasing threat for the Yucatan, including Merida and Progreso and other areas there.”

Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall in the late hours of Wednesday, Oct. 9. Currently a category 5 hurricane, Milton will be hitting Florida’s central west coast.  The storm is centered 300 miles southwest of Tampa and is tracking to the northeast at 14 mph.

“The track of Hurricane Milton continues to be a worst-case scenario for the Tampa Bay region southward to Charlotte”, the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay stated in a briefing.

Meteorologist Shares More in Depth Why He Became Emotional About Hurricane Milton 

In a post on Mother Jones, meteorologist John Morales revealed in detail why he became emotional about Hurricane Milton on air.  

Morales stated that he was at the home office about to go on air for the noon broadcast when an urgent bulletin came out from the National Hurricane Center. The bulletin indicated that Hurricane Milton became a Category 5 hurricane.

“I had a chart in front of me, and I looked at the barometric pressure they were reporting at noon,” he said. “And I compared it to just what had been reported in the pre-dawn hours. And I go, ‘Oh, my goodness.’”

Morales then explained how “funny” millibars can get a “nerd” like himself to lose it. “Millibars is a way of measuring barometric pressure. It just absolutely dropped like a rock. I couldn’t believe it dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours, which is an indication of rapid intensification.”

He admitted that he felt different about this hurricane and is having trouble staying cool.

“After 40 years in a career, hopefully, I get a little leeway from the folks who are accustomed to seeing me cool as a cucumber,” he added. “But the truth is that with climate-driven extremes putting us in a place that we haven’t been before, it’s very difficult to stay cool, calm, and collected. It’s a level of agitation and dismay when you know what’s about to unfold and the type of damage and suffering it’s going to cause.”