Panama City Beach tropical outlook, weather conditions for Oct. 8, 2024

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Bay County remains mostly unaffected by what meteorologists are saying will be a catastrophic storm on landfall. Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Tampa as a Category 4 storm, down from Monday's Category 5. There's potential for Milton to intensify again as it continues along its path before making landfall tomorrow.

The National Hurricane Center has placed much of Florida's west coast under a hurricane warning. The warning encompasses everywhere between Bonita Springs to the south and Suwannee to the north. On the east side of the peninsula, everywhere between Vero Beach and Jacksonville are now under a hurricane warning. The remaining coast of the state is under a tropical storm warning with the exception of northwest Florida, west of Indian Pass.

Northwest Florida has a front moving in from the north, causing lower temperatures to set in, which is keeping severe weather to the south. Bay County has a low probability of seeing some tropical storm-force winds starting sometime on Wednesday.

There's currently a rip current statement in effect for the area, indicating a high risk of rip currents. Despite this, beaches are still in yellow flag conditions. Yellow flags indicate potentially high surf or dangerous currents and undertows and means that swimmers should exercise extreme caution.

There is also a hurricane local statement for the county; however, this is because Bay County falls in a larger forecast area, which includes the coastal regions of the Big Bend.

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Contrasting the severe weather facing the rest of the state in the coming days, the National Weather Service predicts a sunny day for Panama City with a high of 85 and winds heading northeast around 10 mph.

They forecast Wednesday will be partly sunny with a high near 79. Wind gusts of up to 30 mph can be expected during the day Wednesday before jumping to 35 mph at night. The day is slated to be breezy with winds headed northeast between 15 and 20 mph.

Travel in and out of Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is still operating normally , no school closures have been announced, and some local law enforcement are heading south to assist with efforts in Pinellas County.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach tropical outlook, weather conditions for Oct. 8, 2024