CNN's latest hurricane report says Milton is rapidly approaching the west-central coast of Florida on the evening of October 9, local time (ie the morning of October 10, Hanoi time), as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 193 km/h.
The center of Hurricane Milton is 96 km southwest of Sarasota, Florida. Wind gusts of over 10 mph have been reported along the southwest coast of Florida, along with high tides.
The latest hurricane forecast says Milton could make landfall at 8 p.m. local time, with the worst of the weather expected to begin early and last through early morning on October 10 along west-central Florida.
According to NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological lab, a drone recorded an 8.5 m high wave and gusts of nearly 122 km/h near the center of Milton. The wave was recorded 40 nautical miles from Milton's center.
According to CNN's latest hurricane report, heavy rain, strong winds and severe tornadoes are occurring in Florida as Milton is expected to hit the state in the evening.
As of the evening of October 9, the National Weather Service's Florida office has issued a total of 133 tornado warnings related to Milton. Each office in Miami and Tampa has issued 49 warnings, while Melbourne has 35 tornado warnings related to the upcoming storm.
Nearly 7.3 million Floridaans in 15 counties have been called to evacuate as Milton approaches. CNN reporter Boris Sanchez, who is in the Tampa Bay Area, said "the weather has gotten significantly worse," with "very strong, very strong winds" and "very heavy rain".
Milton still has a few hours left to make landfall, but more than 250,000 customers in Florida have lost power, according to poweroutage.us. With strong gusts as the storm begins moving ashore, power outages will begin to increase significantly in western Florida by the evening of October 9.
As Milton approaches Florida, forecasters are also concerned about the risk of a new storm forming in the Atlantic, according to the latest storm report from AP.
The US National Hurricane Center said it is monitoring another system that could form in the Atlantic. The low pressure area was located about 482 km west-southwest of Bermuda on the afternoon of October 9 and has not yet been named. According to the center's storm and low pressure forecast, the possibility of a new storm forming in the next 48 hours is low.
"Today, environmental conditions are less favorable for the development of tropical or subtropical areas," the forecast said.
However, the possibility of a new storm appearing has raised concerns for people in the US, which has been hit by rapidly intensifying storms such as Helene and Milton. Milton, the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has continuously strengthened into a Category 5 super typhoon as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico. The next storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could be called Hurricane Nadine.
In the 2024 hurricane season forecast, NOAA forecasts 17 to 25 named storms, contributing to a more intense hurricane season than usual.
