The National Hurricane Center has warned that people living on the west-central Florida coast should be rushing to complete any last-minute hurricane preparations Wednesday morning as Hurricane Milton approaches .
Hurricane Milton is a very dangerous Category 4 storm , just 2 mph shy of once again becoming a Category 5 storm . Maximum wind speeds are 155 mph and the storm is moving northeast at about 16 mph.
A landfall is expected along the west-central coast of Florida late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Here’s a look at when Hurricane Milton could hit Florida .
Hurricane Milton timeline: 9 a.m. Wednesday
Hurricane Milton was about 115 miles west-northwest of the Dry Tortugas, Florida, and 230 miles southwest of Tampa on Wednesday morning. The storm is moving north east at 16 mph and maximum sustained wind speeds are 155 mph, again teetering on the line of a Category 5 hurricane.
The center of Hurricane Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning through the afternoon before making landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
An area of heavy rain has begun to spread across portions of southwestern and west-central Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton. The storm will produced between 6 to 12 inches of rain, with some localized totals up to 18 inches, across central to northern portions of the Florida Peninsula now through Thursday.
Risk of catastrophic and life-threatening flash and urban flooding, along with moderate to major river flooding, will accompany the storm as it approaches Florida.
Hurricane Milton could also begin spawning tornadoes today through tonight across parts of central and southern Florida.
The storm will also generate large swells that will affect much of the Gulf Coast and southeastern U.S. coast over the next two days. These swells can cause life-threatening surf and rip conditions.
The NHC says that vertical wind shear is expected to increase over Milton later today, which should cause some weakening ahead of landfall, but it stresses that it will be a “very dangerous hurricane” when it reaches Florida, maintaining its hurricane status as it cuts across the Peninsula.
Hurricane Milton timeline: 2 p.m. Wednesday
Not much will change between Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Milton will continue its northeast trajectory as it approaches the west-central Florida coastline.
Hurricane Milton timeline: 2 a.m. Thursday
While Hurricane Milton could make landfall late Wednesday afternoon, the NHC’s latest forecast cone for the storm projects a potential landfall around 2 a.m. Thursday morning near the Tampa area.
AccuWeather corroborates the estimate, predicting that Hurricane Milton will make landfall between 1 and 3 a.m. on Thursday near Tampa.
Areas of Florida near Orlando will see the worst of Hurricane Milton between noon on Wednesday and 6 a.m. on Thursday, with wind gusts approaching 120 mph and 8 to 12 inches of rain.
Areas as far north as Jacksonville are expected to be impacted by Hurricane Milton, too, according to AccuWeather. The worst conditions will appear later on Wednesday into Thursday, with gusts topping out around 60 mph.
Hurricane Milton timeline: 2 p.m. Thursday
Hurricane Milton will have mostly traversed a bisecting path through the Florida Peninsula by Thursday afternoon. It will have been downgraded from "major hurricane" status to hurricane by this point, but it will still have major impacts on the Sunshine State.
The center of Hurricane Milton will likely leave Florida near Brevard County. From here, the storm will hook more eastward as it moves out into the Atlantic Ocean.
By Friday morning, it will have moved a couple hundred miles east of Florida. Milton will likely become a post-tropical cyclone through the remainder of the week, passing Bermuda on Saturday evening.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Hurricane Milton timeline: Here's when and where Hurricane Milton will hit Florida
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