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"Time Is Running Out" To Evacuate As Hurricane Milton Barrels Towards Florida's Gulf Coast

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
Authored...

Update (1315ET):

Milton is about 500 miles southwest of Tampa and is expected to make landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm on Florida's Gulf Coast. The storm was downgraded from a Cat. 5 overnight to a Cat. 4 on Tuesday morning. 

"If the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years," the National Weather Service in Tampa warned, adding, "Milton continues to pose a potentially catastrophic threat to parts of the west Florida coast."

Milton is forecasted to produce higher storm surges across the Tampa area than Hurricane Helene just weeks ago. 

President Biden told reporters that Milton could be "the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century." 

International Space Station just orbited above Milton. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told residents today that "time is running out" to leave the area as the biggest evacuation effort in the state since 2017 has been underway for days. 

"Basically, the entire peninsula portion of Florida is under some type of either a watch or a warning," DeSantis told reporters in his morning storm briefing,"  adding, "You have time today. Time is running out. But you do have time today to heed any evacuation orders and do what you need to do to protect yourself and our families."

Whoa. 

Ha.

*   *   * 

Milton weakened overnight to a Category 4 hurricane. The storm is an "extremely dangerous" threat as it churns near the Yucatan Peninsula, barreling toward Florida's Gulf Coast this AM, with landfall impacts expected on Wednseday night or early Thursday morning. 

According to the National Hurricane Center's 0500 ET update, Milton was downgraded from a Cat. 5 to Cat. 4, with maximum winds up to 155 mph while traversing the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico at 12 mph with an east-northeast heading.  

The latest storm data shows Milton is completing an eyewall replacement cycle. This means the strongest winds extend further out from the center as the eye grows in size. 

The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore warned on X, "Focus on the surge NOT the category!"

NHC's peak storm surge forecast shows Milton could generate a wall of water as high as 15 feet across Tampa Bay, Sarasota, and Venice. 

Computer models are shifting south with landfall impacts from Sarasota to Port Charlotte instead of the initial forecasts for Tampa. 

More trajectory models. 

On Sunday, Florida launched the largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma in 2017. Hurricane warnings have been posted for the region. 

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