User blog comment:Hurricane news/Hilda cat5 Run/@comment-4074533-20150808214928

I was very surprised that Hilda even became a major hurricane in the first place. The first NHC forecast I saw had Hilda barely scraping the hurricane boundary. But it has taken advantage of the low shear and 28C SST's, and done two stunts of RI. While Hilda still has another 12 to 24 hours to take advantage of these conditions, I still think saying it will become a Category 5 hurricane is a stretch, and 130 knots (150 mph) is more realistic. With RI comes ERC's and other inhibitors eventually, and I think Hilda will fall victim to some intensity suppressor. Then again, the NHC and CPHC have both continuously underestimated this hurricane's potential...