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Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 storm on Monday, intensifying “explosively,” as its wind speeds grew by roughly 90 mph in about 25 hours.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” National Hurricane forecasters wrote in a Monday evening forecast. Forecasters said the winds at the center of the hurricane could weaken before it makes landfall overnight on Wednesday, but that the storm will grow much larger, putting much of the Florida peninsula in harms’ way.
Forecasters were expecting heavy rainfall on Monday evening and more intense precipitation on Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center said it expected “devastating hurricane-force winds” along Florida’s west coast as it approaches the coastline on Wednesday. Communities near the Tampa Bay area could see up to 15 feet of storm surge, according to hurricane center forecasts.
The storm intensified so rapidly because waters in the Gulf of Mexico are record hot. Forecasters were aghast at how quickly Milton picked up steam.
“It’s an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane,” said John Morales, a hurricane specialist for NBC 6 South Florida, who choked up on air. “This is just horrific.”
The hurricane warnings prompted a slew of closures. The Tampa Bay International Airport will halt flights at 9 a.m. local time. Schools in more than 20 counties were slated to close Tuesday. The University of Florida and several other colleges canceled classes this week.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Monday and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief.
Local officials issued widespread mandatory evacuation orders for many communities in Florida, including for parts of Lee, Hillsborough and Sarasota Counties.
What to know
- Hurricane Milton has intensified rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm.
- The storm is making its way east toward Florida and is expected to make landfall late Wednesday on the state's Gulf Coast.
- As Florida continues to recover from Hurricane Helene, as many as 15 million people are under flood watches there and 11 million are at risk for tropical tornadoes tomorrow and Wednesday. Mandatory evacuations are underway along areas of the state's west coast.
- Milton is forecast to reach peak intensity tomorrow morning and then weaken to a strong Category 3 ahead of landfall.
Florida is still reeling after Hurricane Helene, and Gov. Ron DeSantis promised on Monday an around-the-clock effort to clear debris before Milton arrives. DeSantis issued emergency declarations for 51 counties in advance of the storm.
Hurricane-weary residents head out again
Preparations and evacuations were underway today along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where Hurricane Milton was intensifying into a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 storm less than two weeks after Helene bore down on the Southeast.
In downtown Fort Myers, crews boarded up stores and restaurants. Residents in Tampa rushed to stock up on supplies at supermarkets. Debris removal continued throughout the state as officials urged residents to prepare for the worst and heed evacuation orders.
“If you’re in the path of Hurricane #Milton, the time to act is NOW,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency posted on X. “If evacuation orders are given, DO NOT DELAY — leave immediately. Staying could mean risking your life and the lives of those you care about.”
Cleon Dixon, a store owner in the St. Armands Circle area of Sarasota, was removing merchandise from her three stores, which all flooded when Helene pummeled the region. She boarded up windows, taped down what she could and placed sandbags throughout her properties today.
Category 5 Milton ‘poses an extremely serious threat’ to Florida, NHC says
Hurricane Milton had maximum sustained winds of 165 mph late tonight as it continued on a path that will take it over Florida this week, the National Hurricane Center said in a bulletin.
The hurricane, passing by Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, was moving east at 9 mph around 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET), the agency said.
“Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida and residents are urged to follow the orders of local officials,” the hurricane center said.
The storm is forecast to approach the western coast of the Florida Peninsula on Wednesday. Late tonight it was at Category 5.
“While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida,” the hurricane center said.
Milton is one of the most powerful storms in 45 years
Milton's wind and pressure readings place the fast-evolving hurricane in the history books as one of the most powerful U.S. hurricanes in 45 years.
The storm posted a pressure reading today of 897 millibars, placing it among the top four hurricanes for low pressure since 1979, when federal forecasters more consistently measured the data point.
The ranking is according to information provided by Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert and meteorologist at Colorado State University. The lower the air pressure, the stronger the winds and the more powerful the storm are, according to the National Ocean Service.
Low pressure, which allows warm air and tropical precipitation to rise and crank up a storm counterclockwise as it produces wind, has been used to measure a hurricane's strength for decades.
By that measure, Milton has emerged as the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Rita in 2005, Klotzbach said. It also posted wind speeds — 180 mph — that are the highest among modern records for the Gulf of Mexico this late in the year, he said.
The hurricane's winds also make it the most powerful in the 2024 Atlantic season, surpassing the peak 165 mph sustained winds of Hurricane Beryl, which weakened considerably before its Gulf Coast landfall in Matagorda, Texas, on July 8, according to NBC News meteorologists.
On wind strength alone, Milton is in the top 10 most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, they said today.
Hurricanes feed off warm water, and Gulf of Mexico sea surface temperatures in the mid- and high-80s, sometimes warmer than the air above, are 2 to 4 degrees above average, which may correlate to climate change.
Milton has been thriving on the warmth, which helped charge up its winds by 95 mph in 24 hours, NBC News meteorologists said.
Mayorkas says misinformation at highest level he’s seen
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that misinformation and intentional lies following devastating Hurricane Helene are at the highest level he has ever seen — and that they’re causing victims to not seek help.
“I have not seen it ever before at this level,” Mayorkas said tonight on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
Mayorkas said the hurricane and the response have been politicized as FEMA and others have sought to refute false claims or lies on social media and former President Donald Trump’s comments about the response.
“What happens is the people who are victimized by the natural disaster are the ones who will suffer,” Mayorkas said. “They — it sows distrust in their government, and therefore, they don’t seek the help that they truly need.”
“We have funds to put in their pockets to be able to help them address immediate needs,” he said. “These individuals are not seeking that relief because of the disinformation, the intentionally false information they are receiving.”
Vulnerable west coast of Florida could get storm surge worse than Helene
A peak storm surge forecast for somewhere in a stretch of the western coast of Florida of 10 to 15 feet would be worse than what was brought by Hurricane Helene, National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said.
That peak storm surge is forecast as possible in a stretch between the Anclote River and Englewood, which includes Tampa Bay. The 10 to 15 feet won’t be everywhere in that area, Rhome said, but somewhere.
“If this is realized, this is more surge than was experienced during Helene,” he said in a 5 p.m. briefing. He said the western coast of Florida "is incredibly susceptible to storm surge."
Part of the coast that includes the Cape Coral area could get a peak of 6 to 10 feet, and “that’s still incredibly high storm surge amounts,” he said.
There will also be excessive rain that will cause flooding even before the hurricane hits, and the storm could remain a hurricane the entire time it passes across Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean, Rhome said.
“Basically, all hazards are in play here, a multi-hazard event. You really have to be thinking about significant, widespread power outages for days where Milton crosses the Florida Peninsula,” he said. “Significant downed trees, significant power outages, maybe the inability to move around for several days.”
Biden calls Florida Gov. DeSantis, Tampa’s mayor ahead of hurricane
President Joe Biden tonight called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, the White House said.
Biden spoke with the two leaders about both recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida only a little more than a week ago, and approaching Hurricane Milton, the White House said.
“He asked the Governor and the Mayor to call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden also spoke to Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service, about Hurricane Milton, the White House said.
Highways back up as people flee hurricane
The Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office shared helicopter video today and warned about traffic delays as people on the western coast of the state move north ahead of Hurricane Milton.
Hillsborough County includes the Tampa area. Tampa Bay and other parts of the Gulf Coast are under storm surge and hurricane warnings as the hurricane approaches.
Orlando braces for a foot of rain
Orlando is under a hurricane warning and bracing for dangerous flooding. The inland central Florida city could get a foot of rain as the storm passes over the Florida Peninsula.
In 2022, Hurricane Ian dumped 13 to 15 inches of rain on Orlando, forcing hundreds of rescues from fast-rising waters.
Orlando officials are concerned about the city’s stormwater systems and their capacity.
“Our storm system can handle up to a foot of water or 3 inches in an hour. ... This is going to be a lot worse than that,” City Council member Patty Sheehan told NBC News.
Sheehan urged residents to keep an eye on storm drains near their homes and help clear them if possible. Long-term, she wonders how cities like Orlando can build drainage systems capable of handling more intense rainfall events driven by climate change.
A recent study published in the journal Nature projects stormwater runoff will increase by nearly 50% in many U.S. cities, because a warmer atmosphere allows more precipitation and more intense hourly rainfall rates.
National Hurricane Center website crashed briefly
The National Hurricane Center's website crashed about 5 p.m. ET today. The website hosts hurricane forecasts, warnings and advisories.
"The NHC site was down for about 15 minutes, but it’s back up now and stable. We’ll have more information to share soon," said Erica Grow Cei, a public affairs specialist for the National Weather Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The National Weather Service has experienced network outages and technology troubles during high-impact weather events in the recent past. In April, it experienced outages during an outbreak of tornadoes in the Midwest, according to The Washington Post.
Milton continues to grow stronger
Hurricane Milton continues to grow stronger this evening, clocking sustained winds of nearly 180 mph, according to the latest National Hurricane Center forecast.
“Milton is expected to grow in size and remain an extremely dangerous hurricane when it approaches the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. A large area of destructive storm surge will occur along parts of the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. This is an extremely life-threatening situation,” the National Hurricane Center wrote in its 5 p.m. ET forecast.
Milton is expected to make landfall somewhere on Florida’s west coast overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
The National Hurricane Center said that Milton could strengthen more today but that it could be beginning an eyewall replacement cycle, which would cause the storm to grow but also slow wind speeds at its center.
Eyewall replacement is a typical process for hurricanes, as thunderstorms on the outside of the storms coalesce into ring structures and then replace the old eyewalls.
While winds could weaken, the potential for damage and destruction remains extreme.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” forecasters wrote.
