The storm that was expected to bring heavy rain to Florida intensified into Hurricane Milton on Sunday, and the National Hurricane Center is expecting it to become a category 3 hurricane by Wednesday when it lands on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Milton had sustained winds of 85 mph in the NHC’s 8 p.m. advisory on Sunday, and it’s expected to intensify Monday to 92 mph sustained winds with maximum wind gusts at 115 mph. By Tuesday, it will likely pack sustained winds of 115 mph with wind gusts at 138 mph followed. And by Wednesday, forecasters expect sustained winds of 121 mph with gusts of 150 mph.
The official forecast track Sunday night showed Milton hitting Florida near Bradenton and Sarasota on Wednesday afternoon as a major Category 3 storm, then tracking east-northeast and exiting the state just south of Cape Canaveral. But the cone of uncertainty engulfed nearly the entire peninsula.
On Sunday, Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded his original state of emergency to 51 of Florida’s 67 counties. Counties included in the governor’s emergency declaration are Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwanee, Taylor, Union, and Volusia.
He also instructed “Florida’s assets currently assisting in North Carolina and Tennessee to return the necessary equipment and personnel home ahead of Milton’s landfall.” These assets include the Florida State Guard, the Florida National Guard, the Federal Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“A major hurricane is the most likely outcome,” he said. “This is not a good track for the state of Florida.”
Adding insult to injury, heavy rain is expected, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday ahead of Milton, according to the National Hurricane Center. That includes St. Johns County – and of course, St. Augustine.
Swells and storm surge are already affecting the Gulf Coast and are predicted to increase as the week progresses.
The Federal Emergency Management Association is temporarily closing all of Florida’s Disaster Recovery Centers in Florida at close of business day, Monday, Oct. 7, in preparation for severe weather.
“The centers will reopen when weather conditions improve, and inspections are completed,” they said in a press release.
Ryan Truchelut, chief meteorologist for WeatherTiger, described Hurricane’s Helene and Milton as devastating one-two punches.
“The exact forecast track is not crucial because impacts are going to be widespread throughout the Florida peninsula,” he wrote for the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network-Florida, of which The Record is a part. “Milton will be a ferocious storm, building up a life-threatening wall of water over days, no matter what wind-based hurricane category Milton ultimately reaches at landfall.”
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Hurricane Milton will affect most of Florida, including St. Johns
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