Hurricane Milton continues to push closer to the Florida coastline, and the impacts begin well before landfall.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane Milton continues to push closer to the Florida coastline, and the impacts begin well before landfall.
Starting Wednesday afternoon, rounds of downpours started to hit the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas as the rain bands pass through. Tropical storm-force winds also started reach the coast. Some isolated tornadoes are possible in these rain bands, and at least one already touched down Wednesday morning.
By evening, the center of Milton will be less than 100 miles from the coast, and damaging wind gusts will begin. Power outages, which began popping up earlier in the day, are likely to become more widespread at this time.
Torrential downpours are expected to continue into the night as winds strengthen. Coastal Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties will begin to feel the eye wall.
LANDFALL TIMING
Landfall in Florida is expected late Wednesday night, around midnight, according to the latest storm track released at 11 a.m. ET.
Hurricane Milton dropped to a Category 4 storm early Wednesday, and may weaken further before it makes landfall. As of mid-day Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said it may make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with “devastating hurricane-force winds.”
Milton’s projected landfall location also continued to shift Wednesday. Even small wobbles in the path make a big difference on which communities will be hit hard. (Track the latest on the storm’s path with WFLA’s Wobble Tracker.)
Besides the dangerous winds, storm surge of 10-15 feet is expected in the areas about 50 miles south of the eye at landfall. That is higher than a single-story home.
Communities along the shores of Tampa Bay may see the bay waters pushed out of its banks. In Pinellas County, bayside cities may see water surge 3-5 feet above ground. For Hillsborough County, the south shore may experience a 6-9 foot water rise.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said to people choosing to remain home on barrier islands, “just know that if you get 10 feet of storm surge, you can’t just hunker down with that.”
“If you’re on the southern part of this storm, you are going to get storm surge,” DeSantis said.
“It’s churning massive amounts of water, and that water is going to come out,” he added. “Man, if you’re anywhere in the eye or south, you are going to get major storm surge.”
The threat of storm surge comes as Florida’s coastal communities were still working to gather debris from Hurricane Helene. Officials feared the debris could turn into dangerous projectiles with this storm.
“All this crap is going to be missiles,” DeSantis said. “It’s like a spear coming at you.”
On Thursday morning, hurricane-force winds will be pushing east through Florida and reaching the state’s east coast. The storm dries out quickly behind the center of circulation, so rainfall will quickly end in the morning.
Less humid air will then arrive, but light showers on Thursday are still possible.