Hurricane Milton rapidly intensifies to category five strength

Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified into a category five storm as it tears its way towards the US Gulf Coast, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has said.

Ferocious winds of up to 160mph (250km/h) have been recorded as Milton heads towards Florida, where it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, the NHC said.

Floridians have been told to prepare for the state's largest evacuation effort for years, with Governor Ron DeSantis warning that time for people to evacuate is running out very quickly.

Warnings over Hurricane Milton come just 10 days after Hurricane Helene - the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005 - pummelled through the US south-east, killing at least 225 people. Hundreds of others are still missing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl8e084r9yo
 

Take care everyone just keep your heads and get out if you can or have to, possessions can be replaced bodies can’t. 


 

Nasty that's all I can say. 🥴

Update:

Hurricane Milton is located more than 730 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, and has maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, making it a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/tracking-hurricane-milton-florida-southeast

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2024-10-07-hurricane-milton-forecast-florida-storm-surge-wind-flooding

As I live in Canada I can’t watch the Videos so I use my VPN and I show myself being in the US to watch them. 😕

Winds are at 175 miles per hour at this time...watching it on the TV. 😲

Update:

H​urricane Milton is continuing to intensify, with sustained winds now up to 180 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center's 5 pm update, making Milton the ninth Atlantic hurricane on record with winds of at least 180 mph.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2024-10-07-hurricane-milton-forecast-florida-storm-surge-wind-flooding

Florida is going to get a lot of wind damage, but the storm surge is going to be tremendous. I’d be packing up and moving inland. Inland will get hit with wind and rain but no storm surge.

Yes 10 to 12 feet and it’s unheard of...

CTV news: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2862132

8 pm ET Update:

Storm Surge:

Up to 15 feet… 😲 in Tampa and area...

H​urricane Milton is continuing to intensify, and it now ranks among the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record with wind speeds at or above 180 mph and minimum pressure below 900 mb.

Hurricane and storm surge warnings are now posted along Florida's western Gulf Coast, where the storm will bring life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall by midweek.

"​If Milton stays on its course, this will be the most powerful hurricane to hit Tampa Bay in over 100 years. No one in the area has ever experienced a hurricane this strong before," warned the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay.

I​f you're in an area prone to storm surge, follow the advice of local officials and evacuate if ordered to do so. This is a serious situation with the National Hurricane Center forecasting a storm surge as much as 10 to 15 feet above ground level along the western Florida Gulf Coast, including the Tampa Bay area, if the peak surge arrives at high tide.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2024-10-07-hurricane-milton-forecast-florida-storm-surge-wind-flooding

Hurricane Milton tracker: Storm strengthens back to Cat. 5 as it takes aim at Florida

TAMPA, Fla. - Hurricane Milton strengthened back into a Category 5 storm Tuesday evening with maximum sustained winds topping 165 miles per hour. 

As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Milton was located at 22.7N and 87.4W, which is 480 miles southwest of Tampa.

https://www.fox13news.com/weather/hurricane-milton-tracker-storm-is-strong-cat-4-path-toward-floridas-gulf-coast

Thoughts are with those effected by Hurricane Milton

Chatted with Tyler this morning over text and he and his family are fine! He’s on a Generator and hopefully power will be restored soon.

Wonderful @TripleHelix ! So happy to hear Tyler and family are doing well considering  ..Thank you for letting us know!🙃

Thank you for letting us know @TripleHelix 
I hope everyone else in the area is OK.

On a slightly different note, guess where it will be headed next ☹️

Where? Bermuda just below. https://www.google.com/maps/@24.5410518,-67.6216247,5z/data=!4m2!21m1!1s%2Fg%2F11wj6z1w_1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I forgot about the West Indies, I was thinking about the UK