transformed into a category 5 hurricane During the last hours, Milton is expected to continue its growth this Tuesday by advancing in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) en route to Florida, where the evacuation of more than a million people.
Florida’s densely populated west coast, still recovering from devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago, is bracing to be hit by that hurricane, likely Wednesday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicts that the storm will likely be will impact near the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people and where some evacuees rush to get rid of the piles of rubble left by Hélène when she left the city.
With maximum sustained winds of approximately 270 kilometers per hourMilton has already been ranked as the most powerful storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale. According to the hurricane center, wind speeds could decrease to 233 kilometers per hour as it approaches Florida. However, it would be a Category 4 storm, which would mean catastrophic damage, including power outages expected to last several days.
Fueled by warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico, Milton became the third strongest storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Hurricane Center. go from tropical storm to category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours.
Her the west-east trajectory is also unusualas Gulf hurricanes typically form in the Caribbean Sea and make landfall after traveling west and turning north.
“It is extremely rare for a hurricane to form in the western Gulf, move east and impact the west coast of Florida,” said Jonathan Lin, an atmospheric scientist at Cornell University. “This has big implications, because the storm track plays an important role in determining where the storm surge will be greatest.”
The Hurricane Center predicted storm surge of 3 to 4.5 metersIt extends along part of the coast north and south of Tampa Bay.
Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, also estimates that Milton will grow in size before making landfall on Wednesday, threatening hundreds of miles of storm surge. “Milton will likely remain a hurricane throughout its journey across the Florida peninsula,” Rhome said.
