A new tropical storm has formed in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's expected to rapidly intensify into a hurricane that could slam the western coast of Florida days after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the entire East Coast.
Dubbed Tropical Storm Milton, the cyclone rapidly intensified on Saturday, and it's expected to batter the Florida coast on Wednesday or late Tuesday as a Category 2 storm.
In its first advisory on the latest weather system, the National Hurricane Center said, "There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday." Then, the storm will make landfall, causing a nasty amount of damage, just after Hurricane Helene swept through.
According to The Weather Channel , Milton is slated to pass below Florida's Big Bend, and it's not expected to bring as much storm surge as Helene brought, but some areas are going to have to buckle down, especially after they already saw damage from Helene from its storm surge. Pinellas County to Naples is the region the outlet said is most in danger.
Flooding, wind damage and dangerous rip currents are expected from the storm, with rainfall expected well ahead of the storm's landfall. Anywhere between three inches to a foot of rainfall can be expected in some areas of Florida in the week ahead as the storm approaches. The heaviest amount of rain is expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As a possible Category 2 or even Category 3 storm, wind speeds for Milton are expected to reach well over 100 mph. By comparison, Helene was a Category 4 storm when it made landfall, meaning it had sustained wind speeds of 130 to 156 mph.
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The Weather Channel recommends that any preparations for the storm be finished by Tuesday evening, stating that things could get dangerous after that time.
FOX Weather Meteorologist Bryan Norcross said he's worried about how quickly Milton seems to be intensifying. He said, according to FOX Weather , "I don't like the way this is developing at all, and it's going to happen pretty quickly. It just means the odds are significantly higher (Saturday) than they were (Friday) that a memorable, impactful storm is going to impact Florida in the days ahead."
The NHC summed up the danger in a statement on Saturday afternoon: "Regardless of the exact details of the intensity forecast, an intense hurricane with multiple life-threatening hazards is likely to affect the west coast of the Florida Peninsula next week."
Hurricane Helene, when it made landfall last week, became among the deadliest storms to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with over 300 casualties reported. Many individuals became trapped in floodwaters, crushed by trees knocked over by the intense winds or died in other horrific ways.
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