Milton Barrels Towards Tampa-Area As A Cat. 5 Hurricane  

Milton strengthened overnight into a devastating Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds in excess of 160 mph. The National Hurricane Center reported early Wednseday that Milton was located about 300 miles southwest of Tampa, traversing the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico towards the 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,” NHC wrote in an advisory note.

The latest forecast states Milton will make landfall near Sarasota between 0200 ET and 0600 ET Thursday morning as a Category 4 storm.

One of the main concerns across the Tampa to Sarasota region will be the storm’s dangerous eye and eyewall unleashing record storm surges. Warnings have already been posted for much of Florida’s western coast. 

Storm surge plus wave heights. Not good pic.twitter.com/SPpSM0o4MY

— The American Storm (@BigJoeBastardi) October 9, 2024

Not good. 

Wow! Watch this catastrophic simulation of Hurricane Milton

Milton is predicted to hit as a Category 5 hurricane with storm surges up to 15 feet in the Tampa area then will move across Florida

If you are in Milton’s path with evacuation orders, leave now

Do NOT wait pic.twitter.com/Nfv6LIQ8Bv

— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) October 8, 2024

“Tampa is on a knife’s edge, but Sarasota, Siesta Key, Venice, Englewood, Port Charlotte, and Punta Gorda continue to look to experience the worst of the storm surge under this scenario,” Ben Noll, a meteorologist with New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, wrote on X. 

The overnight ECMWF nudges slightly north with #Milton, with the eye forecast to pass near the southern end of Tampa Bay.

Tampa is on a knife’s edge, but Sarasota, Siesta Key, Venice, Englewood, Port Charlotte, and Punta Gorda continue to look to experience the worst of the… pic.twitter.com/DAqnVxHJ4v

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) October 9, 2024

Noll continued. 

As of early Wednesday, #Milton remained a category 5 storm with a central pressure of 907 hPa, continuing to rank in the top-10 most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record from a pressure perspective.

Landfall in #Florida is only about 20 hours away from now. pic.twitter.com/wUO3TdJ3za

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) October 9, 2024

Since Sunday, evacuations in the state have been the largest since 2017. 

According to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, here are the areas under mandatory evacuation orders:

Charlotte County; Citrus County; Collier County; Hillsborough County; Hernando County; Lee County; Levy County; Manatee County; Pasco County; Pinellas County; Sarasota County; St. John’s County and Volusia County;

And voluntary evacuation orders:

Glades County; Okeechobee County; Dixie County; Hardee County; Miami-Dade County and Union County.

Evacuation order map: 

GTFO.

Officials are urging residents along Florida’s Gulf Coast to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, with the Tampa mayor saying, “If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.”⁣ pic.twitter.com/NTg683IJRH

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 8, 2024

Massive evacuations in Florida due to Hurricane Milton. This is I-75 in Tampa. pic.twitter.com/owHfH8v8sj

— T_CAS videos (@tecas2000) October 8, 2024

A mass evacuation is in progress in Sarasota, Florida, following the upgrade of Hurricane Milton to a Category 5. Here’s a look at the northbound traffic on I-75 as residents make their escape.@MyRadarWX #flwx #hurricane #milton pic.twitter.com/vC2pEvxLR2

— Jordan Hall (@JordanHallWX) October 7, 2024

Meanwhile, Tampa-area Sheriff Chad Chronister of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office told residents anyone who has not evacuated is “on their own.”