Hurricane Milton Recap | Weather.com (2024)

Hurricane Central

By Jonathan Belles, Chris Dolce, Caitlin Kaiser, Sara Tonks

2 hours ago

Hurricane Milton Recap | Weather.com (1)

At a Glance

  • Milton came ashore near Siesta Key, Florida, as a major hurricane.
  • High winds, flooding rain and storm surge pummeled Central Florida.
  • Milton was the season's second Category 5 hurricane.

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H​urricane Milton is tracking away from Florida with continued threats of high winds, flooding rain and storm surge, but conditions should improve across the state later today.

(UPDATES: Milton's Impacts, Reports And More)

R​ecap Of Milton

F​ollowing Hurricane Helene's devestating strike in Florida's Big Bend, Milton struck two weeks later bringing catastrophic rainfall flooding, 100 mph gusts, a tornado outbreak and storm surge to Florida's peninsula.

T​he storm killed multiple people and broke numerous meteorological records.

H​ere are a few notable factoids from Milton:

-​ Highest rainfall total: St. Petersburg, Florida: 18.87 inches

-​ Highest wind gust: 105 mph in Egmont Channel, Florida

-​ Highest known storm surge: 5-6 feet in various spots in southwest Florida include Naples and Fort Myers. This is likely underestimated and numbers are likely higher in Sarasota or Charlotte Counties.

-​ Milton was this season's 5th Gulf Coast hurricane landfall.

-​ Milton was Florida's 3rd hurricane landfall this season.

-​ 126 tornado warnings issued. This is the highest number of tornado warnings issued in Florida in one day.

Here's the storm formation, intensity and track history for Milton: A swirl began to brew in the Gulf of Mexico around October 4 as the remnants of the East Pacific's Tropical Depression Eleven-E passed northward from the Gulf of Tehuantepec into the Bay of Campeche.

T​ropical Depression Fourteen formed on the morning of Oct. 5 in the southwest Gulf of Mexico and shortly thereafter was deemed Tropical Storm Milton.

T​he storm then rapidly intensified into Hurricane Milton about 24 hours later at 1 p.m. CDT on Oct. 6.

T​he next day, Milton underwent another incredible round of rapid intensification. Winds increased from 90 mph at 1 a.m. CDT on Oct. 7 to 180 mph just 15 hours later at 4 p.m. CDT.

Hurricane Milton Recap | Weather.com (2)

Milton's 180 mph winds made it one of only nine other Atlantic hurricanes to hit that wind threshold or higher.

Its pressure dropped to 897 millibars, the lowest observed in any Atlantic hurricane since Wilma in 2005. That also ranks as the fifth-lowest pressure on record for any Atlantic hurricane.

After weakening to a Category 4 the night of Oct. 7 because of an eyewall replacement cycle, the hurricane regained Category 5 intensity over the Gulf of Mexico on the afternoon of Oct. 8.

Milton held at that strength into the morning of Oct. 9 before increasing wind shear caused its winds to weaken on approach to Florida. The hurricane was beginning to gain influence from nearby frontal boundaries and a strong jet stream aloft.

T​he hurricane took on a lopsided appearance with extremely heavy rain and 80-105 mph wind gusts located to the north and northeast of the storm's center. To the south, lighter rain fell as stronger winds pushed storm surge ashore from Sarasota County to Naples.

A blowout tide north of Manatee County emptied out much of Tampa Bay and caused lower water levels along Pinellas County. Water levels dropped by around 5 feet at the northern end of Tampa Bay.

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The hurricane then made landfall south of Tampa Bay as a Category 3 at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 9.

Hurricane Milton Recap | Weather.com (3)

Hurricane Milton's power across Florida didn't just come from warm Gulf of Mexico water, but also from jet stream winds aloft and a boundary over the Atlantic. Milton began this transition of energy as it approached Florida's west coast Wednesday evening and completed it Thursday afternoon. This transition helped Milton grow in size and also reoriented some of its threats as it came over the state. It will now feed on differences in temperature across a frontal boundary as a winter storm does.

M​ilton accelerated across the Florida peninsula in the pre-dawn hours of October 10 and then into the Atlantic after sunrise. It then became a powerful post-tropical hurricane-strength low.

Milton's landfall storm reports history

T​ornado Outbreak

Numerous tornadoes were spawned by Milton in southern and central Florida ahead of its landfall Wednesday. There have been at least three dozen reports of tornadoes, but the actual number of twisters won't be known until the National Weather Service performs storm surveys. At least one EF3 tornado has been confirmed to have hit Palm Beach Gardens by the NWS in Miami with many more surveys ahead.

Rainfall-driven F​looding

A flash flood emergency was issued Wednesday evening because of heavy rain in Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk Counties, including Lakeland, Winter Haven and Wesley Chapel. Rainfall totals in the area were estimated to be 8 to 12 inches.

Rainfall totals of 10 to 19 inches soaked southern Pinellas County, coastal Hillsborough County and western Manatee County.

St. Petersburg, Florida, reported more than five inches of rain in just one hour along with a gust to 90 mph in that hour. Parts of downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg flooded due to as much as 17 inches of rain.

Tampa broke its monthly rainfall record in just one day by receiving over 11 inches of rain. That record had stood for over 100 years. Waist-deep water was reported in St. Petersburg and Tampa due to rainfall-driven flooding.

S​torm Surge

Water levels rose about 8+ feet near Sarasota close to landfall Wednesday evening. A​ storm surge of 5 to 10 feet was been recorded from Naples to Siesta Key, including Charlotte Harbor, with inundation toward the higher end of that window likely occurring in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Water levels fell by around 5 feet at the top of Tampa Bay due to blowout winds while the mouth of Tampa Bay saw a climb in water levels by 1 to 2 feet. Naples saw a storm surge of 5.75 feet.

V​enice, Florida, may have been near ground zero for storm surge, but the amount of storm surge will need to be measured by looking at water lines. The surge pushed sand through homes and businesses. An unofficial wind gust to 100 mph was recorded there.

M​anasota Key, to the south of Venice, also saw major storm surge.

Storm surge inundated some areas of northeast Florida's coast early on October 10th because of strong winds blowing onshore on the back side of Milton. M​oderate to major flooding was reported along the St. Johns River from a combination of storm surge and heavy rainfall.

D​amaging Winds

Hurricane-force winds swept through much of Central Florida.

Winds gusted up to 105 mph in Egmont Channel, 102 mph in Sarasota, 101 mph in St. Petersburg, 97 mph in Venice, 93 mph in Tampa and 90 mph in Venice. A sustained wind of 78 mph was recorded in Venice at an elevated station. St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field and several cranes in downtown suffered serious damage. In Tampa, the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater was also wrecked.

Small p​lanes were flipped due to strong winds in Venice, Florida.

To the east, Orlando International Airport recorded a wind gust to 86 mph.

Hurricane Milton Recap | Weather.com (2024)
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