CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida Wednesday night as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at around 120 mph., the National Hurricane Center says.
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The storm made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, Florida, bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surge and potential flooding to much of the state. The storm was also bringing deadly storm surge to much of Florida's Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
Milton drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, twice reaching Category 5 status.
Portions of the South Carolina coastline are under a tropical storm warning as Category 3 Hurricane Milton gets closer to an official landfall in west-central Florida.
Live 5 First Alert Chief Meteorologist Bill Walsh said the biggest impact for the Lowcountry, based on current computer models, will be high tides and tidal flooding caused by onshore winds on Thursday afternoon and overnight into early Friday morning. Tides of up to 8.2 feet are expected which can cause major flooding in low-lying areas.
The Lowcountry can also expect low-end wind effects and rainfall. Most tropical-storm-force winds above 39 mph will be along the coastal waters, he said.
Milton quickly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane Monday and has both weakened and restrengthened in the time since. Central pressure in the eye of Hurricane Milton fell to a near-record low Monday night. The National Hurricane Center says the storm poses an "extremely serious threat" to Florida.
A sustained wind of 78 mph and a gust of 97 mph was recently reported at a NOAA C-MAN station in Venice. A sustained wind of 77 mph and a gust of 100 mph was recently reported at a WeatherFlow station at Egmont Channel. A sustained wind of 67 mph and a gust of 83 mph was recently reported at a WeatherFlow station at Skyway Fishing Pier. A sustained wind of 40 mph and a gust of 73 mph was recently reported at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
On the forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the central part of the Florida peninsula overnight, and emerge off the east coast of Florida on Thursday.
Milton is expected to remain a hurricane while it moves across central Florida through Thursday. The system is forecast to weaken over the western Atlantic and become extratropical by Thursday night.
At 8 p.m., the minimum central pressure estimated from Hurricane Hunter aircraft observations was 954 mb or 28.17 inches.
The National Hurricane Center issued multiple watches and warnings for the monster storm:
Milton, which had only just become a Category 2 hurricane early Monday morning, made rapid gains to earn major hurricane status over the course of a couple of hours and reached Category 5 strength later the same day.
As the storm continues to close in on Florida, residents are running out of time to evacuate and forecasters for the National Hurricane Center say Milton is forming tornadic supercells that are starting to sweep across Florida's southern peninsula.
"Now is the time to rush to complete all preparations to protect life and property in accordance with your emergency plan. Ensure you are in a safe location before the onset of strong winds or possible flooding. Ensure you have multiple ways to receive weather warnings," one forecaster warned Floridians in the path.
Storm surges are expected to get between 10 and 15 feet above ground in parts of Florida's west coast, an event that is certain to cause catastrophic damage to those areas.
Leslie was a little stronger on Wednesday but is expected to reach stronger upper-level winds on Thursday..
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the center of Hurricane Leslie was located
near latitude 22.2 North, longitude 49.0 West, about 955 miles east-northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands.
Leslie is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph. A turn toward the north and north-northeast is forecast during the next couple of days.
Maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph with higher gusts. Some additional strengthening is possible through Wednesday night, followed by weakening through early next week.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 mile.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 982 mb or 29.00 inches.