Milton has sustained winds of 80 mph becoming reaching hurricane strength on Sunday, about 24 hours after becoming a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting Milton to continue to strengthen before a landfall along Florida’s West Coast by midweek. Hurricane and storm surge watches will likely be issued for Florida later on Sunday.
TAMPA – Millions of people across the Florida Peninsula are on alert as Hurricane Milton is rapidly intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico while it continues on a path toward the Sunshine State, where it’s expected to bring a potentially life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and torrential rain to the state this week.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials held a news conference on Sunday morning and said evacuations are likely, and time is running out to prepare for the eventual hurricane‘s potentially deadly impacts.
TRACKING MILTON: SPAGHETTI MODELS, FORECAST CONE, LIVE RADAR AND MORE
State officials in Florida are urging residents to prepare for likely Hurricane Milton which is expected to make landfall along the state’s west coast later this week.
“I urge Floridians to finalize your storm preparations now; enact your plan,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said. “I highly encourage you to evacuate. We are preparing, and I have the State Emergency Response Team preparing, for the largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma.”
If Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida, it will be the third to do so this season following the landfalls of Debby in August and Helene in September.
The situation has been rapidly unfolding, with forecasters at the National Hurricane Center first designating the storm as Tropical Depression Fourteen early Saturday morning, then hours later issuing a special alert announcing the development of Tropical Storm Milton. About 24 hours later, Milton intensified into a hurricane early Sunday afternoon.
What’s the latest with Hurricane Milton?
(FOX Weather)
Hurricane Milton is located more than 800 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, and has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Milton is moving off to the east at 6 mph.
What watches and warnings are in effect because of Hurricane Milton?
(FOX Weather)
No watches or warnings are in effect for the mainland U.S.,
However, Tropical Storm Warnings and Tropical Storm Watches are in effect for portions of Mexico‘s Yucatan Peninsula.
Where is Hurricane Milton going?
(FOX Weather)
The NHC says Hurricane Milton is moving off to the east, and that general motion is expected to continue throughout the day on Sunday.
After that, an east to east-northeastward motion is forecast on Monday, followed by a faster northeastward motion on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On that track, Hurricane Milton is expected to move north of the Yucatan Peninsula, and move across the Gulf of Mexico and approach the west coast of the Florida Peninsula by midweek.