USA – Hurricane Milton Path Predicts Devastating Landfall in Florida Overnight

NBC News, Oct. 9, 2024, 11:06 AM EDT

By Denise Chow and Evan Bush

Hurricane Milton surged back up to a Category 5 Hurricane with sustained winds as high as 180 MPH then fluctuated to Category 4 Hurricane (equivalent to a Signal 3 Typhoon) by Wednesday morning, with forecasts showing it on a path to hit Florida’s west-central Gulf Coast near Sarasota in the early hours of Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Milton first reached Category 5 strength Monday with sustained wind speeds as high as 180 mph, in a rapid intensification the hurricane center called “remarkable.” The storm later dipped back to Category 4 before restrengthening. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Tuesday that it’s “forecast to retain major hurricane status and expand in size” as it approaches Florida, calling the storm “catastrophic.”

“This is an extremely life-threatening situation & residents should follow advice given by local officials & evacuate immediately if told to do so,” the hurricane center warned. The latest forecast track shows Hurricane Milton making landfall over or near Sarasota, Florida, after about 2 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday. Milton is expected to be a low-end Category 4 hurricane at the time, which would put its winds at the bottom of the 130-156 mph range.

After landfall, Milton will continue across Florida while rapidly weakening after losing the fuel of the warm Gulf waters, but still maintaining its hurricane status as it exits into the Atlantic Ocean before quickly transitioning into a tropical storm Thursday afternoon.

“While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida,” the hurricane center said. Forecasters warned the storm would cause destructive and potentially life-threatening storm surge along a large stretch of the Florida coastline in addition to “devastating” hurricane-force winds impacting Orlando (FL), Jacksonville (FL), Savanah (GA) and Charleston (SC) to the East and shoreline in Alabama and Mississippi to the West.