In a repeatedly record-breaking 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season, Hurricane Epsilon smashed multiple records yesterday. The storm exploded from a tropical storm with 45 mph winds on Tuesday morning to a Category 3 major hurricane with 115 mph winds on Wednesday afternoon. It is the sixth storm this year to meet the threshold for ‘rapid intensification.’ No storm on record has come close to that rate of intensification near its current location so late in the season, according to NOAA researcher Sam Lillo. Rapid intensification is made more likely, and is occurring more frequently, as human-caused climate change increases ocean temperatures. Epsilon is expected to rake Bermuda Thursday with tropical storm-force winds but is expected to otherwise avoid any land. (Washington Post $, Yale Climate Connections; Climate Signals background: Hurricanes, 2020 Atlantic hurricane season)