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| Hurricane Milton early Tuesday morning moving northeast away from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Milton will now take aim at west-central Florida, expected to make landfall late Wednesday near Tampa bay as a strong category three hurricane, with winds of up to 200km/h (125 mph). (NOAA) |
Hurricane Milton became a powerhouse on Monday, deepening rapidly into a category 5 storm before weakening slightly late last evening. The storm was in a perfect environment to strengthen and did so at a record pace, dropping 70mb in less than 24 hours down to 897mb. Only hurricane Wilma in 2005 at 882mb was a stronger Gulf storm.
Milton went through what is know as an eyewall replacement last evening, common in very strong hurricanes. The pressure rose to 929mb as of 8am Tuesday, and the winds have backed off to 230km/h (145mph) after being as high as 280km/h (185mph) earlier in the day Monday.
Make no mistake, Milton is still a beast, as as the storm weakens slightly, the wind field is expanding as the storm moves northeast into the central Gulf of Mexico. Milton will be one of the strongest hurricanes on record to hit the west coast of Florida. Widespread hurricane warnings are in effect for the state, with mandatory evacuations well underway.
Roads were jammed in and around Tampa Bay as residents fled north away from the direct impacts of Milton. Early Tuesday morning, Milton was located 880km southwest of Tampa Bay, moving east, northeast at 19km/h. The hurricane is expected to approach the Florida coast late Wednesday or in the wee hours Thursday morning. At this time, forecasters expect Milton to be a strong Category 3 storm when landfall occurs, very close to Tampa.
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