Coastal Lee could see hurricane conditions today as Milton speeds toward Florida

The Fort Myers-Lee County area may see hurricane conditions today as weather progressively worsens into the night hours.

Winds will be blowing offshore around 8 a.m., and conditions will deteriorate into evening hours, according to various forecasts.

"During the day I would describe it as breezy with increasing rain chances," said Austen Flannery, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin, which cover the Fort Myers-Lee County area.

Rain bands will start to work their way onshore around midday, and tropical storm conditions will dominate the coast and some inland areas.

"We're looking at (tropical storm) conditions (in the) evening, maybe from 6 p.m., along the coastal areas and a little later for inland areas," Flannery said.

The strongest part of the storm is expected to pass by our region during the night hours.

High tide in Fort Myers Thursday will be at 12:17 a.m. and 8:39 a.m. while low tide will occur at 2:28 a.m. and 6:42 p.m.

Early Thursday morning is expected to be the most dangerous time for coastal Lee County and even downtown Fort Myers, which could receive several feet of storm surge.

"The worst of it's probably going to happen after midnight," Flannery said. "And through daybreak there will be windy conditions."

Winds will slowly switch to onshore as Milton passes, and that's when the greatest threat of storm surge will come.

Flannery said NWS is still calling for 5 to 10 feet of storm surge along the Lee County coast.

Coastal barrier islands expected to flood

That could be enough to swamp barrier islands like Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Pine Island.

Rainfall will also be a factor as several inches are expected to fall between now and Thursday morning.

"For the entire event we're probably looking at the 5 to 10 inches," Flannery said.

The day will start off breezy, with winds quickly picking up to 20 miles per hour.

"You're looking at winds in the morning around 10 miles per hour increasing to 20 to 25 miles per hour, and by the evening it will be around or above 40 miles an hour and greater at that point," Flannery said.

Although the eye of the storm is expected to make landfall early Thursday morning near Sarasota or Tampa Bay, serious storm impacts may still occur here.

"There is still the potential for hurricane force winds there, depending on the adjustments of the track," Flannery said. "Water levels will start going up tomorrow, and at it will peak sometime Thursday morning at 5 to 10 feet, somewhere in that range."

Barrier islands like Fort Myers Beach are already vulnerable to even relatively small storms as the town's $10 million emergency berm was wiped away by Hurricane Helene last month.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Coastal Lee could see hurricane conditions today as Milton speeds toward Florida