At 800 PM EDT (0000 UTC), the center of Hurricane Milton was located
near latitude 27.2 North, longitude 82.8 West. Milton is moving
toward the east-northeast near 15 mph (24 km/h), and this general
motion is expected to continue through Thursday, followed by a turn
toward the east on Friday. On the forecast track, the center of
Milton will make landfall just south of the Tampa Bay region
within the next hour or two, and then move across the central part
of the Florida peninsula overnight, and emerge off the east coast of
Florida on Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher
gusts. Milton is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Wind Scale. Little change in strength is likely
until landfall, and Milton is expected to remain a hurricane
while it moves across central Florida through Thursday. The system
is forecast to weaken over the western Atlantic and become
extratropical by Thursday night.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from
the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 255
miles (405 km). A sustained wind of 54 mph (87 km/h) and a gust of
96 mph (154 km/h) was recently reported at the Sarasota-Bradenton
International Airport. A C-MAN Station in Venice, Florida recently
reported a sustained wind of 71 mph (115 km/h) with a gust to 90
mph (145 km/h).
The minimum central pressure estimated from Hurricane Hunter
aircraft observations is 954 mb (28.17 inches).
Hurricane Milton Intermediate Advisory Number 19A (NOAA)
Forecast Form, a calamity form(?). Just might be.
