Douglas: Warm, quiet at home as Milton bears down on Florida

By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas:

Hurricane Milton became one of the fastest rapidly intensifying hurricanes earlier this week with wind speeds increasing by 100 mph in a little more than 24 hours. Milton also became the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this late in the calendar year since the satellite era began (1966).

Parts of Florida saw its largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma in 2017. Unfortunately, this is going to be a big one for much of central Florida. Milton is set to make landfall overnight with a 10- to 15-foot storm surge, flooding coastal communities. Up to a foot of rain (or more) will flood inland communities, and hurricane-force wind gusts will create widespread damage and power outages along Florida’s most densely populated Interstate 4 corridor. Piles of debris left over from Hurricane Helene could make damage worse.

Closer to home, our weather remains very quiet. Mild sunshine continues through Wednesday, with one more 80-degree day in the forecast for Thursday.

A real cold front arrives this weekend with an outside chance of flurries up north by Monday. I’m not ready!