Hurricane Milton formed in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday afternoon and will continue to intensify up to potentially a Category 4 major hurricane by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Hurricane Milton formed in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday afternoon and will continue to intensify up to potentially a Category 4 major hurricane by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Special 6 a.m. Monday update
A special update from the National Hurricane Center at 6 a.m. indicates Milton has reached major hurricane status with top sustained winds of 120 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane. According to the NHC, it is moving east-southeast at eight mph. The latest track has the storm increasing to a Category 4 storm in the Gulf and then weakening to a Category 3 before landfall.
There remains a lot of uncertainty about where the storm’s center will make landfall late Wednesday into Thursday morning. The tropical models show the disagreement, from north of Tampa to south of Fort Myers.
With this uncertainty, the Global Forecast System (GFS) and European forecast models show the differences in center landfall and timing. The GFS has a landfall near Tampa, lifting up to northeast Florida. The southern side of the storm is weaker due to increased wind shear.
The European forecast model shows the landfall hitting just south of Tampa. Consistent with the GFS, the wind shear will aid the storm, breaking apart on the southern side and dropping the heaviest rainfall on the north side. The National Hurricane Center track follows closely to the European model data.
Regardless, the National Hurricane Center says, “the system is still likely to be a large and powerful hurricane at landfall in Florida, with life-threatening hazards along portions of the coastline.”
In Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, there is no impact on our region from Milton. The cold front on Monday has brought us cooler and drier air, keeping rain chances at zero and high temperatures in the 70s this week.