Hurricane Michael, the fiercest storm to hit Florida in a quarter century, was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) as it made landfall on Wednesday. “Hurricane Michael made landfall at Category 4 intensity, making it the strongest storm to hit the Florida Panhandle since hurricane records began in 1851,” said Dr Peter Sousounis, vice president and director of meteorology at AIR. “The rapid intensification so close to shore has been a behaviour that storms are exhibiting more frequently and could be related to climate change.” The NHC added it is expected to weaken further to a tropical storm by Thursday morning as it crosses the southeastern United States.