The 13th named storm and the 9th hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season has formed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane Milton has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and is moving towards the east at 6 mph.
Milton is 815 miles to the west of Tampa, Florida, in the western Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to continue toward the east strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane, with winds of 100 mph by Monday morning.
By Tuesday, Milton is expected to rapidly intensify into a major category 4 hurricane, with winds up to 145 mph, and is expected to make landfall on Florida's west coast between Wednesday afternoon, as a category 3 hurricane with winds up to 120 mph.
There is a bit of wind shear that Milton could encounter, which may help it keeping from intensifying even further heading into Wednesday morning.
Right now, there are no hurricane or tropical storm warning up for the west coast of Florida, but there is a hurricane warning up for the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Watching and warnings will likely be issued by Monday morning.
This will be the third landfalling hurricane in Florida in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, just weeks after Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend just a few weeks ago, along with Hurricane Debby back in August.
The forecast cone for where Milton may make landfall extends from the Big Bend all the way to South Florida, including Tampa, Sarasota, and Naples.
Milton is expected to bring storm surge, strong winds, and flooding concerns to portions of the west coast of Florida when it makes landfall on Wednesday.
Milton will pass over the Florida peninsula, exiting the east coast of Florida by late Wednesday or early Thursday, still as a Category 1 hurricane. As of now, Milton should stay off the coast and eventually head out to sea late Thursday and Friday.
HAMPTON ROADS IMPACTS
The good news is, Hampton Roads and Eastern North Carolina should not see direct impacts from Milton. As Milton moves into the Atlantic, we can expect higher tides and strong rip currents at the beaches on Thursday and Friday.