CNN's latest storm news said that Hurricane Milton was rapidly approaching the west-central coast of Florida on the evening of October 9, local time (morning of October 10, Hanoi time), at the intensity of a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 193 km/h.
Hurricane Milton is centered 60 miles southwest of Sarasota, Florida. Wind gusts of over 10 mph have been reported along the southwest Florida coast, along with high storm surge.
The latest hurricane forecast says Milton could make landfall at 8 p.m. local time, with the worst weather conditions expected to begin early and last through early morning on Oct. 10 along west-central Florida.
According to NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, a drone recorded an 8.5-meter wave and wind gusts of nearly 76 mph near the center of Hurricane Milton. The wave was recorded 40 nautical miles from the center of Milton.
Heavy rain, strong winds and severe tornadoes are brewing in Florida as Hurricane Milton is expected to hit the state this evening, according to CNN's latest storm report.
As of the evening of October 9, the National Weather Service’s Florida office had issued a total of 133 tornado warnings related to Milton. Miami and Tampa offices each issued 49 warnings, while Melbourne had 35 tornado warnings related to the approaching storm.
Nearly 7.3 million Floridians across 15 counties have been urged to evacuate as Hurricane Milton approaches. CNN's Boris Sanchez in the Tampa Bay area said "conditions have deteriorated significantly," with "very, very strong winds" and "very heavy rain."
Hurricane Milton is still hours away from making landfall, but more than 250,000 customers in Florida are already without power, according to poweroutage.us. With high winds as the storm begins to move ashore, outages will begin to increase significantly in western Florida by the evening of October 9.
According to the latest storm report from AP, while Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, hurricane forecasters are also concerned about the risk of a new storm forming in the Atlantic.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was monitoring another system that could form in the Atlantic Ocean. The low-pressure area was located about 300 miles west-southwest of Bermuda on the afternoon of October 9 and has not yet been named. According to the center's hurricane and low-pressure forecast, the chance of a new storm forming in the next 48 hours is low.
"Today, environmental conditions are less favorable for tropical or subtropical growth," the forecast said.
However, the possibility of a new storm is worrying for people in the United States, which has been hit by rapid-intensification storms like Helene and Milton. Milton is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which has steadily strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane as it moves in the Gulf of Mexico. The next storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could be called Hurricane Nadine.
In its seasonal hurricane forecast for the 2024 hurricane season, NOAA predicts between 17 and 25 named storms, contributing to a more active than normal hurricane season.
