Meteorologists have been watching the intensification of Hurricane Milton all day with disbelief since it went from a Category 1 storm to a Category 5 storm in less than 12 hours, a rate that has never been seen before. The storm is still predicted to make landfall near Tampa FL as a major hurricane, but it will most likely be reduced to a Category 3 storm based on wind speed. However, the storm surge will likely be more like what we expect with a Category 5 storm (similar to what happened with Katrina in 2005), so anyone along the coast who lives in a low-lying area should evacuate if they have not already done so.
Milton is starting to go through an eyewall replacement cycle on Monday night that will temporarily weaken the storm a bit as a new, larger eye forms outside the current tiny eyewall that is only 4 miles across. A bigger storm will cause severe impacts over a wider area than the compact size of Milton earlier today. Because of that, tropical storm watches have been extended along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts for strong gusty winds and storm surges there of several feet. The timing of the strong winds in southern Georgia and in SC are for the winds to reach tropical storm force on Wednesday night into early Thursday, but there is a potential for it starting earlier if the storm strengthens again after the eyewall replacement is complete.
