Hurricane Milton is expected to be a devastating hurricane along the west coast of Florida and land late on Wednesday evening. The latest advisory from the NHC says Milton is forecast to retain major hurricane status and expand in size as it approaches the coast of Florida.
In NHC parlance, a 'major hurricane' is Category-3 or larger.
"A turn toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected to begin later today and continue through Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and approach the west-central coast of Florida through Wednesday. The center is likely to make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida on Wednesday night, and move east-northeastward across central Florida through Thursday."
The storm is currently blowing near 240 km/h and is a Category 4 hurricane.
"While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida," the advisory says.
The current forecast shows it slowing to a Category 3 hurricane just before landfall. Don't be fooled by that as Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Wilma was also a costly and deadly Cat 3 storm.
The current forecast is for the eye of the storm to travel just south of Tampa Bay.