Milton on verge of Category 5 strength, hurricane warning issued around Lake O

David DeMeza walks out with belongings through sands pushed on to the streets by Hurricane Helene in Treasure Island. Image via AP.

Hurricane Milton has officially reached Category 5 status, and remains on course to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday evening.

The latest update from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm now has 175 mph winds. That makes it the third-fastest rapidly intensifying storm on record, less than two days after it reached tropical storm force strength.

The storm remains 700 miles southwest of Tampa Bay, with the center of the storm currently moving eastward at around 9 miles per hour toward the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Forecasts show from there, the storm will reduce in intensity but move in an east-northeast direction toward Florida.

“While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida,” the latest advisory reads.

Hurricane-force winds extend 30 miles from the storm’s center, with tropical storm force winds recording 80 miles from the eye. The first storm winds are expected to reach Florida sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday morning.

All storm surge and hurricane watches and warnings from this morning remain in effect.

11 a.m. Monday

Hurricane Milton has already reached Category 4 strength, and forecasts show it inevitably will become a Category 5 storm.

The latest update from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm system remains 720 miles southwest of Tampa, and currently poses the greatest threat to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico Monday and Tuesday.

But it remains on track to approach Florida’s west coast on Wednesday, when it is expected to make landfall in the evening as a major hurricane. While forecasts for now show it will be weakened to a Category 3 storm by that point, the situation has officials throughout Florida advising extreme caution.

The National Hurricane Center just extended a hurricane warning to all communities on the shore of Lake Okeechobee. That’s the first full hurricane warning in Florida since Milton formed.

A hurricane watch, meanwhile, is in place on Florida’s Gulf Coast from Chokoloskee to the mouth of the Suwannee River, critically including Tampa Bay.

A storm surge watch is in effect from Flamingo in South Florida north to the Suwanee River’s mouth, while a tropical storm watch runs from Flamingo north almost to the Chokoloskee, and from north of the Suwannee River to Indian Pass. The Florida Keys are also under tropical storm warning.

Those in Tampa Bay and living anywhere on the Gulf Coast from the Anclote River south to Englewood may see between 8 and 12 feet of storm surge, based on current conditions.

North of the Anclote to Yankeetown could see 5 to 10 feet, the same forecast for south for Englewood to Bonita Beach.

Areas between Bonita Beach and the Chokoloskee could see between 4 and 7 feet, and those from the Suwannee River north to Yankeetown could see 3 to 5 feet.

Ahead of the storm, areas across the Florida peninsula and the Keys could see up to 15 inches of rain before Wednesday evening.

The storm looks to threaten many areas still recovering from Hurricane Helene.