Hurricane Milton is still a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph, according to the 5 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm is located about 300 miles southwest of Tampa, moving northeast at 14 mph.
“On the forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida late tonight or early Thursday morning, and move off the east coast of Florida over the western Atlantic Ocean Thursday afternoon,” the NHC said.
The official forecast now calls for Milton to be a Category 4 at landfall with sustained wind speeds near 130 mph.
Outer bands have already begun impacting Florida, and conditions are expected to deteriorate across the state through the day. Several tornado warnings have already been issued for portions of South Florida and more are expected throughout the day as the potential for severe weather increases across the entire peninsula.
“Hurricane conditions are expected in the hurricane warning area across Florida beginning this evening through early Thursday,” the NHC said. “Tropical storm conditions are expected to begin in the warning area on the east coast of Florida tonight and along the Georgia coast on Thursday.”
The tropical storm watch has been upgraded to a tropical storm warning for the Georgia coast, from Altamaha Sound near Brunswick to the Savannah River.