Milton to hit Florida as a major hurricane on Wednesday
Here we go again. Hurricane Milton is quickly gathering strength over the Gulf of Mexico as it heads east toward Florida over the next few days.
Milton’s strange track will take it east over the length of the warm Gulf of Mexico. Favorable conditions will help the storm take advantage of that warm water and force periods of rapid intensification over the next 48 hours.
The National Hurricane Center expects the storm to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane by Monday, possibly peaking Tuesday as a Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds as it picks up speed toward Florida’s western coast.
Forecasters expect that Hurricane Milton will make landfall somewhere on Florida’s west-central coast as a major hurricane during the day Wednesday. The precise landfall location is still up in the air a few days out, but this will be a large and growing storm with wide-reaching impacts by the time it makes landfall.
A life-threatening storm surge is likely along the coast, mainly south of the point of landfall. Depending on where Milton makes landfall, this could lead to devastating coastal flooding for some areas. Anyone around Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, or the Caloosahatchee River should heed evacuation orders if and when they’re issued.
Widespread flash flooding is possible throughout Florida as heavy rain pounds the state over the next few days even before Milton arrives. 5-8+ inches of rain will fall across Florida through the end of the week, with the highest totals expected in southern Florida and through the center of the state along Milton’s expected track.
Remember, never try to drive across a flooded roadway. It’s impossible to tell how deep the water is until it’s too late, and the road may not be there anymore beneath the waters. It only takes a few inches of moving water to lift up a vehicle and carry it away.
It’s been a long time since the Tampa Bay area has faced a direct threat like this. While many storms have grazed the region in the past few decades, the last hurricane to strike Tampa Bay directly was back in 1946.
