Ten days after the Southeast was wracked by Helene , one the deadliest storms in modern history, the National Weather Service today forecast that newly-formed Hurricane Milton is headed toward central Florida and could impact the entire state. “Milton is forecast to move just north of the Yucatan Peninsula and across the southern Gulf of Mexico on Monday and Tuesday and approach the west coast of the Florida Peninsula by Wednesday,” reads a NWS report. “Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts.
Milton is forecast to intensify rapidly and become a major hurricane on Monday.” That means Milton will shift from a tropical storm to a Cat. 3 hurricane in the space of 24 hours.
Cat. 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale means winds of 111-129 mph. Per the NWS, “The official intensity forecast.
..shows Milton rapidly strengthening to category 4 intensity within the next couple of days.
” Thankfully, it is expected to weaken slightly before reaching the west coast of Florida. According to the chart below, it is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane, likely Cat. 3.
Hurricane-force winds currently extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds up to 80 miles out. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Sunday that most of the state will likely be impacted. He has declared a state of emergency in 51 counties, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Miami-Dade and Broward.
“I don’t think there’s any scena.