Florida Meteorologist Tears Up on Live TV While Warning About Threat of Hurricane Milton: 'This Is Just Horrific'

A Florida meteorologist is going viral for his emotional coverage of the fast-growing Hurricane Milton.

John Morales, the chief meteorologist for NBC 6 South Florida, was tracking the "incredible" Hurricane Milton when he became visibly choked up.

"I apologize," Morales said, "This is just horrific."

Morales, who was born in Schenectady, New York, and raised in Puerto Rico, per his NBC 6 biography, said the storm's maximum sustained winds are currently 160 mph and "gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico where the winds are record hot."

"You know what's driving that, I don't need to tell you: global warming, climate change leading to this and becoming an increasing threat," Morales warned.

The storm is expected to hit the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, which Morales said will be devastated by the Category 5 storm.

"These communities, as you might imagine, many folks in that area have just the very basics," Morales said. "Just the basics, nothing else but that, so it's going to be very tough."

Hurricane Milton is predicted to make landfall in Florida's Tampa Bay region on Wednesday. Although it should weaken before it does, Morales cautioned that because of the storm's stunning strength, it's going to be "nothing less than a major hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida."

At a news conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents in the Tampa Bay region to take evacuation orders seriously. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor echoed DeSantis's plea, calling Hurricane Milton "the real deal," according to reporting by NBC 6.

X users were touched by the meteorologist's vulnerable reaction to the potentially devastating storm.