Hurricane Milton Bears Down On Florida, Unleashes Tornadoes

Hurricane Milton began to produce tornadoes in Florida on Wednesday as the outer bands of the storm reached across the state ahead of an expected landfall overnight.

A pair of twisters crossed Interstate 75 in the Florida Everglades around 10 a.m. ET, moving north between Miles City and Andytown, according to AccuWeather. Images of the tornados were posted to social media.

????️????BREAKING: Two large tornadoes from Hurricane Milton crossed Interstate 75 in the Florida Everglades around 10 a.m. EDT, moving north between the towns of Miles City and Andytown.

The tornado shown here was east of the first tornado and closer to Andytown. pic.twitter.com/M65dpsvgWV

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 9, 2024

The National Hurricane Center said in a late-morning advisory that tornado supercells from Milton had begun to “sweep” across the southern Florida Peninsula.

As bands from #Milton begin moving ashore, conditions will be favorable for tornado development across the central/southern Florida Peninsula, even far away from the expected landfall. Keep your alerts active on your phone and take immediate action if a warning is issued for your… pic.twitter.com/k9MEZvO5Px

— National Weather Service (@NWS) October 9, 2024

Milton has once again been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane and is expected to drop further to Category 3 before making landfall somewhere between Tampa and Naples.

However, forecasters and local officials are warning that Milton will still be considered a “major” hurricane, capable of wreaking mass destruction, as its wind field grows in size.

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Evacuation orders have been issued to millions of people across several counties, and shelters have been opened in areas expected to get the brunt of the storm.

“Now is the time to execute your hurricane preparedness plan,” Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said in a post to X on Wednesday morning, adding later, “Time is running out.”

As of this morning, Hurricane Milton is still a Category 4 storm. Even if it weakens before landfall, Milton will be a major hurricane with catastrophic impacts on our state.

Now is the time to execute your hurricane preparedness plan. Heed evacuation warnings from your local… pic.twitter.com/qGlJsT7uW6

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 9, 2024

Hurricane Milton is capable of unleashing heavy rain, strong winds, tornadoes, storm surge, and flooding, including in places across the state not in the direct path of the storm.

Storm surge could be particularly deadly for those insisting on staying put. Some locations in the Tampa Bay area and farther south could have more than 10 feet of water rushing inland.

Calculating just where landfall will happen remains a tricky exercise, as the National Hurricane Center said it was “not possible” to predict about 12 hours out as”wobbles” may happen.

After landfall, Hurricane Milton is expected to quickly move across the Florida Peninsula and head out over the Atlantic Ocean away from the United States.

Florida is bracing for Milton less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, submerged the Tampa Bay area, and caused havoc in other states.

Crews were still picking up debris from Helene in places across Florida on Wednesday. Residents have been told to beware as debris could start flying around with Milton approaching.

The @CityofTampa still has crews out working hard to get debris picked up from Hurricane Helene before Hurricane #Milton gets here tonight. Live coverage on @weatherchannel continues. @JimCantore @mikebettes @AlbertEltiempo pic.twitter.com/XTwImm1Zxc

— Charles Peek (@CharlesPeekWX) October 9, 2024

Stunning images of Milton have been shared online, including from NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who is on the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavor docked to the International Space Station.

Timelapse flying by Hurricane Milton today about 2 hours ago. Storm looks bigger but less symmetric than yesterday.

1/2000 sec, f8, 14mm, ISO 500, 0.5 sec interval, 30fps pic.twitter.com/XUjQEJPOGg

— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) October 9, 2024

“Timelapse flying by Hurricane Milton today about 2 hours ago. Storm looks bigger but less symmetric than yesterday,” Dominick said in one post to X on Wednesday morning.

And don’t forget the so-called Waffle House Index used to signal an imminent disaster. The restaurant chain said locations were closing around Tampa, Fort Myers, Orlando, Ocala, and Daytona.