When can Manatee County start feeling Hurricane Milton’s impacts? Here’s what to know

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Hurricane Milton’s current path has the Category 4 storm churning toward Manatee County.

That’s the track the National Hurricane Center forecast in its 2 p.m. Tuesday update.

But when will Milton’s impact for the area begin?

“Looking at sometime after dark (Wednesday) for the coastal areas, within a couple hours thereafter for inland,” National Weather Service-Ruskin meteorologist Austen Flannery said. “So that’s kind of the point at which people should be hunkered down is when those tropical storm force winds start to kind of make it into the area.”

Tropical storm force winds are in the 39 to 74 miles per hour range, according to the NWS.

According to the National Weather Service, wind speeds will begin picking up around 9 a.m. Wednesday. Milton’s peak wind gusts of 98 miles per hour are expected in the Bradenton area around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. The storm is expected to drench Manatee County with around 8 inches of rain, with higher rainfall totals possible in some areas.

As of Tuesday’s 2 p.m. update , Milton was about 520 miles southwest of Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Milton is projected to weaken to a Category 3 storm when it makes landfall on Florida’s west coast. A Cat 3 hurricane has wind speeds in the 111-129 mph range and is considered a “major” hurricane that can cause significant loss of life and damage.

The severe impacts from Hurricane Milton also include 10 to 15 feet of life-threatening storm surge, potential major flooding rain and tornadoes.