Updates on Hurricane Milton

 Milton’s eye is currently 7 miles wide!

MILTON EVENING UPDATE TUE OCT 8 7PM

1.) Milton is back to Cat 5 with pressure that continues to fall in the eye. This has caused winds to increase to 165 mph. 

2.) Track is back to ENE but earlier today, while a new eyewall was forming, Milton took a jog, a wobble, to the east. This has shifted the track east too & thus a landfall a little farther south from the previous track. 

3.) Though this improved the surge prospects for Tampa Bay, potentially lowering the surge, it increase the threat for surge across Manatee & Sarasota Counties. The surge forecast has been increased in these areas to 8-12 ft. The surge forecast has been increased by 1ft for Ft. Myers too. 

4.) Timing with Milton hasn't changed much. A landfall of around 2 AM on Thursday still seems reasonable. Milton is still forecast to be weakening as it approaches the coast but a major hurricane is still likely. If Milton continues to maintain Cat 5 intensity it could still be a Cat 4 as it approaches the coast. Future fluctuations in strength are very important to this forecast. 

5.) Milton will become larger as it approaches the coast & weakens spreading its winds over a larger area. Even though the center is now forecast to move farther south, hurricane force winds are still likely to extend north toward Tampa & the I-4 corridor along with Pinellas County. These winds would then move ENE south of I-4 impacting Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee, DeSoto & Highlands counties.

There's still a lot to be determined with Milton but the track continues to narrow as the storm gets closer. The NHC will have another track update at 11pm tonight & one at 5am tomorrow. You'll see the 11pm post here. I won't do a long update here as I work at 3 am but expect another long update after the 5 am track is released tomorrow. 

HURRICANE MILTON UPDATE (TUE 8 PM) | As of 8pm

 Tuesday evening, Milton had re-strengthened to a very powerful Category 5 hurricane. Very warm water associated with the Loop Current and low wind shear allowed the pressure to drop and the storm to re-intensify today.

The future track of Milton is projected to make landfall along the West-Central Coast of Florida between Tampa and Sarasota close to midnight Wednesday night. Life-threatening storm surge over 12 feet, destructive winds, widespread power outages and inland flooding are all expected as Milton comes ashore and then moves inland across Central Florida Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

Thankfully, no impacts from Milton will be seen here in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. We will stay sunny and dry through the week into the weekend.