At 11 a.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory stating that Tropical Storm Gabrielle is in the Atlantic Ocean, 455 miles southeast of Bermuda. With maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, the system is moving to the north-northwest at 9 mph.

Three factors are to blame, or cheer. One, a strong vertical wind shear, which refers to a change in wind speed or direction with altitude. It has increased thanks to a cyclonic circulation in the mid-upper troposphere, which is the lowest region of the Earth’s atmosphere.

When Hurricane Erin explosively intensified in the Atlantic, the alarming part wasn’t solely how dangerous it had become as a Category 5 monster: It was also just how typical such an ultra-rapid rate of intensification has become.