John Morales, one of South Florida's most veteran meteorologists, was visibly emotional while delivering a weather report for WTVJ/NBC6 in Miami on Monday. The split-screen showed an ominous image of Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm that advancing toward Florida's west coast, still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26.
As Morales described the storm’s rapid intensification, his voice cracked. “It's just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane,” he said, closing his eyes in disbelief.
“It has dropped…” Morales paused, visibly struggling to regain his composure, “… it has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours.”
“I apologize,” he added, his voice trembling. “This is just horrific.”
John Morales also warned about Hurricane Helene but…
Morales shared the broadcast clip on X (formerly Twitter), where it garnered 1.7 million views. He later explained the reasons behind his tearful reaction: the shock of the storm’s rapid intensification, frustration over society's failure to adequately address climate change, and deep empathy for those in the path of the storm. “It claims lives,” Morales said. “It also wrecks lives. You have to feel sorry for the folks that are in this hurricane’s path.”
{{/usCountry}}Morales shared the broadcast clip on X (formerly Twitter), where it garnered 1.7 million views. He later explained the reasons behind his tearful reaction: the shock of the storm’s rapid intensification, frustration over society's failure to adequately address climate change, and deep empathy for those in the path of the storm. “It claims lives,” Morales said. “It also wrecks lives. You have to feel sorry for the folks that are in this hurricane’s path.”
{{/usCountry}}Over the course of his 40-year career, Morales had prided himself on being a calm, rational voice, delivering weather updates without alarm. However, “As the temperature of the planet increases, my confidence in forecasting storm intensity is decreasing.” He wrote in a 2023 essay, “I am afraid of rapid intensification cycles happening at the drop of a hat.”
Despite warnings about Hurricane Helene's catastrophic potential, critics accused him of exaggeration, calling him a “climate militant.” “But it wasn’t an exaggeration,” he wrote. “Perhaps those who have known me as the just-the-facts non-alarmist meteorologist can’t get used to the new me.”
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Many South Floridians who are now evacuating Tampa Bay regions express gratitude for his straightforward approach to weather forecasting. He is among a growing number of Florida meteorologists, like Jeff Berardelli and Steve MacLaughlin, who openly discuss the reality of climate change. As Morales asserts, “The climate crisis is here. It’s not a future problem, it’s a today problem, and it merits all of our attention.”