What factors led to Hurricane Otis’s rare intensification?

A powerful wind formation known as a jet streak combined with warmer-than-usual surface temperatures to intensify Hurricane Otis as it approached the coast. Ocean surface temperatures in the region measured about 1.8 °F (1 °C) above the average temperature at the same time of year in 1991–2020, most likely because of a combination of the seasonal El Niño and fossil fuel–induced oceanic warming. High surface temperatures contributed to low-pressure conditions that fueled the storm, as lower pressure at a storm’s center allows winds to strengthen more rapidly. The jet streak caused dramatic upper-level divergence, removing air from the top of the storm and leading to a rapid drop in central pressure, which drove intensification.