Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline. Milton had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph) over the southern Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane center said.
#2 I read yesterday gov deSantis kicked open a debris dump off for this very reason.
floridapolitics.com
Why is the governor of Florida the only one that acts like they care? I mean really acts like a leader that gives a ----? It maybe off, but he appears driven.
What's wrong with American government, why don't they care about their citizens?
Very odd
Hurricane Milton live updates: 'Potentially catastrophic' Category 5 storm takes aim at Florida
www.nbcnews.com
... Hurricane Milton 'explosively intensifies' with winds of 175 mph (2:02PM EDT)
Hurricane Milton has "explosively" intensified, with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, according the latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center.
The agency said Milton is now a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which ranks hurricanes from 1 to 5 based on a storm's maximum sustained wind speed.
"While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida," the NHC said. ...
Hurricane Milton...
finance.yahoo.com
... Hurricane Milton's surge to Category 5 strength comes from high-temperature Gulf of Mexico waters that also intensified the deadly Helene less than two weeks ago, contributing to the new storm's odd west-to-east track that threatens Tampa, Florida.
"There is really no historical precedent for a track like this," said Ryan Truchelut, president of commercial forecaster WeatherTiger.
Though the calendar says October, the water is 86F (30C) in Mexico's Bay of Campeche, where Milton is gathering strength, and nearly that warm off Tampa, according to the National Data Buoy Center. Hurricanes draw power from hotter water, which acts as fuel for storms.
"The Gulf is still being summer-like with water temperatures," Truchelut said. Gulf waters averaged 78.4F in October 2023, according to the website sea temperature.info.
The balmy water has allowed Milton to rapidly intensify as it moves across the Gulf toward Florida's west coast, where it's forecast to make landfall Oct. 9. A storm rapidly intensifies when its winds grow in strength by 35 miles per hour or more in 24 hours. Milton met the definition in 12 hours Sunday, according to US National Hurricane Center records, and has now reached the top rung of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
While the larger weather patterns pushing west to east aren't unusual in October, what is odd is the warm water that is sustaining such a powerful storm on this path. Depending on where along the coast it strikes, Milton has the potential to be the worst hurricane to hit Tampa since 1921. ...
It maybe off, but he appears driven.
Oh, hell yes it's 'driven'. It's driven by DeSantis not wanting to get big-footed again like he was by Diamond Joe congenially interacting with a couple of his constituents as they appeared to ignore him the last time Ron decided to appear with Biden during a prior storm recovery tour.
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