Hurricane Milton to Make Landfall In Florida Tonight
With life-threatening storm surge, winds, flooding
By Circles Robinson*
HAVANA TIMES – “Hurricane Milton will make landfall in Florida tonight into early Thursday where it poses a major threat to life and property as it hammers the state with destructive storm surge, devastating wind damage, potentially catastrophic flooding rainfall and several tornadoes,” informed the National Weather Service.
“The track of Hurricane Milton continues to be a worst-case scenario for the Tampa Bay region southward to Charlotte”, the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said in a briefing Wednesday morning.
The Weather Channel noted that Milton will make landfall in Florida as a major hurricane, and that besides the wind, heavy rainfall, storm surge and flooding, several tornadoes are possible on the Florida Peninsula.
At 8 AM ET (Cuba time) Milton was packing 250 kph winds (155 mph) and moving northeast at 26 kph (16 mph). The center was located 405 kms. (250 miles) (SW of Tampa, Florida. The minimum central pressure was 915 millibars.
All of Florida is under either a hurricane warning (red) or a tropical storm warning (blue) in areas far south and north of the center of the storm.
What’s happening in Cuba
The Cuba Weather Service (Insmet) reports that in the early morning, in the western region of Cuba, maximum sustained winds from the south have been recorded with speeds between 40 and 50 kph (25-30 mph), with stronger gusts. The meteorological station in La Palma, Pinar del Río, reported a maximum gust of 82 kph (50 mph), and in Casablanca, Havana, a maximum gust of 72 kph (45 mph) was reported.
Insmet forecasts that over the next 12 to 24 hours, south to southwest winds will persist, with speeds between 35 and 50 kilometers (21-31 mph) per hour, with stronger gusts from Pinar del Río to Mayabeque. They note that on Wednesday, strong swells will continue in the south of Pinar del Río, Isla de la Juventud, and the Canarreos archipelago, with light to moderate coastal flooding along the southern coast from Pinar del Río to Mayabeque, including Isla de la Juventud.
Strong swells and moderate coastal flooding will begin today along the northwestern coast, including Havana’s Malecon. In recent hours, due to the wide circulation of Hurricane Milton and the associated feeder bands with this system, some rains, showers, and thunderstorms have been reported in the western region.
This situation will maintain instability in western Cuba, with showers and rains, which may still be heavy in some localities during the day today. Due to the current position of Hurricane Milton and its movement through the Gulf of Mexico, the Forecast Center will closely monitor its evolution in the coming days.
*With information from the Weather Channel and Insmet.