{"id":107444,"date":"2024-10-07T18:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/hurricane-milton-tracker-and-forecast-record-breaking-storm-surge-expected\/"},"modified":"2024-10-07T18:00:31","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T18:00:31","slug":"hurricane-milton-tracker-and-forecast-record-breaking-storm-surge-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/hurricane-milton-tracker-and-forecast-record-breaking-storm-surge-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Milton tracker and forecast: Record-breaking storm surge expected"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOAA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 4 storm Monday morning as it takes aim at Florida’s west coast.<\/p>\n

Landfall is expected as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Milton is closing in as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n

Milton strengthens to Category 5 hurricane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Milton rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane late Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Within hours, Milton strengthened to a Category 2, then a Category 3, then a Category 4 and finally a Category 5.<\/p>\n

University of Florida cancels classes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Florida is canceling classes on Wednesday and Thursday due to Hurricane Milton. The school plans to reopen on Friday morning, officials said.<\/p>\n

Biden approves Florida emergency declaration<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Florida to allow federal assistance to begin supplementing local efforts ahead of Hurricane Milton.<\/p>\n

-ABC News\u2019 Justin Ryan Gomez<\/em><\/p>\n

Milton expected to strengthen to Category 5 hurricane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Milton — currently a high-end Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds — is forecast to strengthen in a few hours to a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds.<\/p>\n

The storm will then weaken slightly as it approaches Florida on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Milton is forecast to make landfall Wednesday night into Thursday morning as a Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds.<\/p>\n

Counties issue evacuation orders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evacuation orders have been issued in counties along Florida\u2019s west coast, including Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota.<\/p>\n

DeSantis: ‘Time is going to start running out very, very soon’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fifty-one out of Florida\u2019s 67 counties are under a state of emergency as the state braces for Hurricane Milton, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.<\/p>\n

The governor urged residents to pay attention to evacuation orders.<\/p>\n

“Time is going to start running out very, very soon,” he warned.<\/p>\n

“Please, if you\u2019re in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate,” Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida Emergency Management, urged at a news conference.<\/p>\n

“Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave.”<\/p>\n

Waste removal trucks are urgently trying to get debris from Hurricane Helene off the streets of coastal communities before Milton hits.<\/p>\n

DeSantis said debris will continue to be cleared until it\u2019s no longer safe to do so.<\/p>\n

Nearly 500 truckloads of debris from the barrier islands and Pinellas County have been moved to debris landfills in the last 24 hours, he said.<\/p>\n

St. Pete-Clearwater, Tampa airports to close<\/strong><\/p>\n

The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, just outside of Tampa, Florida, will close at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and stay shut on Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n

“The airport is in a mandatory evacuation zone and is not a public shelter,” airport officials tweeted. “Prepare and stay safe.”<\/p>\n

Tampa International Airport will suspend operations beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday and stay closed “until it can assess any damage after the storm,” airport officials said.<\/p>\n

Milton strengthens to Category 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Milton rapidly intensified to a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Within hours, Milton strengthened to a Category 2, then a Category 3 and then a Category 4.<\/p>\n

Latest forecast: Landfall expected Wednesday night<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hurricane Milton is forecast to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday morning as a Category 3 hurricane. Landfall is expected anywhere between just north of Tampa to south of Sarasota.<\/p>\n

A record-breaking storm surge of 8 to 12 feet is forecast for the storm surge-prone city of Tampa. This comes just after Hurricane Helene brought a record storm surge of 6 to 8 feet to Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

A hurricane watch was issued for Tampa Bay and Fort Myers, while a tropical storm watch is in effect from Apalachicola to Key West.<\/p>\n

Water inundation from Fort Myers to Tampa could be higher than the record-breaking 7 feet recorded during Helene.<\/p>\n

Flooding is also a threat since a separate storm has dumped rain on Florida for the last several days.<\/p>\n

Milton strengthens to Category 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hurricane Milton early on Monday strengthened to a major Category 3 hurricane, with wind speeds of about 120 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.<\/p>\n

Milton strengthens to Category 2 hurricane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hurricane Milton strengthened rapidly early Monday, with wind speeds climbing to 100 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.<\/p>\n

A hurricane watch was issued for the area around Tampa Bay, along Florida\u2019s western coast.<\/p>\n

The storm, which is in the Gulf of Mexico, is forecast to become a major hurricane on Monday, meaning its winds are expected to reach or exceed 111 mph.<\/p>\n

Landfall is expected on Wednesday night, with the storm expected to be a Category 3 storm with winds of about 125 mph.<\/p>\n

-ABC News\u2019 Max Golembo<\/em><\/p>\n

Milton forecast to be major hurricane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hurricane Milton, which strengthened on Sunday into a Category 1 storm, is forecast to make landfall as a \u201cmajor\u201d hurricane on Florida\u2019s west coast this week, the National Hurricane Center said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it is too soon to specify the exact magnitude and location of the greatest impacts, there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning early Wednesday,\u201d the center said in a late Sunday advisory.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOAA (TALLAHASSEE, FL) — Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 4 storm Monday morning as it takes aim at Florida’s west coast. Landfall is expected as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Milton is closing in as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation unleashed byRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107444"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}