5 pm Hurricane Milton Update

An agonizing two days await us

Local Forecast Cone

• The close up cone suggests the southern extent of the forecast track has nudged northward.
• Please don't read too much into this. It gives us an idea of where the eye or center of the storm may be. Mother nature does not recognize man-made boundaries on a map. The atmosphere is ever changing and so will the cone placement and intensity Milton is getting stronger and will continue to get stronger. 
• Winds are now up to 85 mph on its way to 145 mph in 48 hours. That's a major cat 4 out 5 levels. 
• After that, it is forecast to weaken a bit as it nears Florida, but once this happens, models suggest Milton will grow in size. This means many more areas may feel its wrath.
• As we learned from Helene, many areas outside the cone will be impacted in one way or another.

The cone and intensity will fluctuate until it finally makes landfall so please keep monitoring.

Now for our possible impacts:

Miami Dade & Broward All Cities:

Tropical Storm Force Winds (39 mph and above)

Miami 26% 

Ft. Lauderdale 49%

Areas West of I-95 will see higher chances

Marathon 42%

Key West  48%

Hurricane Force winds (Over 74 mph)

Miami  2%

Ft. Lauderdale 6%

Marathon 4%

Key West 6%

Areas West of I-95 will see higher chances

Rain

• This will be a major player with 4 to 8 inches possible over saturated ground. 
• A Flood Watch is in place for South Florida. This means that any additional rainfall may lead to standing water over low lying areas.

When?

There is increasing confidence that a powerful hurricane with life- threatening hazards 

will be affecting portions of the Florida west coast around the middle of this week.

Shutters?

I recommend if and when a Hurricane Watch is issued, that would be the time to put them up. But you know your property best.

Please, this a huge and dangerous, possibly catastrophic hurricane in development. Impacts will be felt far away from wherever it makes landfall. Best to be prepared.

Hope for the best for all across Florida.