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Another ruinous hurricane is barrelling towards Florida ’s Gulf Coast just 10 day afterHurricane Heleneleft at least 230 the great unwashed dead and thousands of homes glut across the Southeast .
Hurricane Milton , currently roil its direction eastward from the western Gulf of Mexico , strengthened from a tropic storm into a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday ( Oct. 6 ) dark , according to theNational Weather Service . By mid - morning Monday , it hadexploded into a Category 4 hurricanewith sustained jazz of at least 150 miles per 60 minutes ( 241 kilometer / h ) . As of 2 p.m. EDT , it had swelled into a Category 5 storm with sustained air current near 175 miles per hour ( 280 kilometer / h ) and even higher gusts , according to theNational Hurricane Center .
A satellite photo of Hurricane Milton taken above the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday (Oct. 6).
functionary forecast that the hurricane will maintain most of its strength before it makes landfall in or near the Tampa Bay sphere on Tuesday nighttime ( Oct. 8) or Wednesday dawning . Milton ’s wind instrument will fetch yet another deadly tempest surge to Florida ’s west coast as the region still careen from Helene .
The appearance of the hurricane has prompted renewed emptying rules of order across Florida . Republican Governor Ron DeSantis declare a state of pinch for 35 county on Saturday , according to a statementfrom his role .
" I extremely promote you to evacuate,“Kevin Guthrie , the executive theatre director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management , said at a news conferenceon Sunday night . " We are ready … for the declamatory voiding that we have project , most likely since 2017 , [ for ] Hurricane Irma . "
An infrared satellite video shows Milton intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico between Oct. 6 and Oct. 7.
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In 2017 , 6.8 million multitude void their rest home in overture of Irma , which pop more than 130 people across Florida and the Caribbean , according to theFederal Emergency Management Agency .
When it hits , Milton is potential to be particularly dangerous because it ’s set ashore on a part already devastated from a glancing blow by Helene . Helene was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall late on Sept. 26 — but even though Tampa Bay did n’t sustain a direct hit , the domain experienced storm surges up to eight fundament ( 2.4 meters ) high .
Milton is gaining strength apace because of its small pinhole eye , which has a maximum wind radius of 11 international nautical mile ( 18 km ) , compared to Helene ’s 60 nautical mile ( 97 km ) . Hurricanes with minor eyes tend to be more knock-down as theydissipate energy slowerand twisting quicker .
" This is the most impactful violent storm we have confront , much stronger than Hurricane Helene , " St. Petersburg MayorKen Welchsaid at a news league . " We already will be rebuilding for years because of Hurricane Helene , and that will be exacerbate by the impacts of this violent storm . "
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" Remember , Hurricane Helene was 100 miles [ 161 km ] away from us [ in St. Pete ] , moving in a unlike direction , " Welch add . " This is a muscular Category 2 or 3 hurricane head directly for us , " he said at the time . Since then , the storm has grow .
Hurricanesgrow from a flimsy layer of affectionate sea water that evaporate and rises to form storm cloud . The warm the sea is , the more energy the system mother , accelerating the formation process so that crimson storms can rapidly take contour . This is whyhurricane seasonoccurs from June to November and why the most powerful storms in the Atlantic unremarkably occur between August and September , when ocean temperatures peak .
clime modification has made extremely active Atlantichurricane season much more likelythan they were in the 1980s . Since March 2023 , medium ocean surface temperatures around the world have hitrecord - shatter senior high , giving storms like Milton and Helene an extra cost increase before they make landfall .
" Milton is the third Atlantic storm to become a major hurricane since September 26 ( Helene , Kirk),“Philip Klotzbach , a meteorologist at Colorado State University , wrote on X. " This is the most on record for the Atlantic between September 26 - October 7 , breaking the old record of 2 solidification in 1893 , 1941 and 1959 . "
