An extremely powerful Hurricane Milton continues churning its way toward the west-central coast of Florida, packing steady winds as high as 145 mph late Wednesday morning and spawning at least one tornado.
Milton was a Category 5 hurricane — the highest strength on the five-level wind intensity scale — earlier Wednesday morning, with 160 mph winds.
As of 11 a.m., Milton’s top sustained winds eased slightly, to 145 mph, but forecasters warn it will remain a very dangerous hurricane as it takes aim at the Sarasota area of Florida’s west coast.
Milton is expected to make landfall in that area of the Florida peninsula late Wednesday, or a little after midnight, bringing highly destructive winds, torrential rain and what could be life-threatening levels of water from a severe storm surge.
On top of those threats, Milton’s outer bands of wind, clouds and rain have boosted the chances of tornadoes developing, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado watch for South Florida that remains in effect until late Wednesday.
One tornado was visible on the ground this morning on a live traffic camera operated by the Florida Department of Transportation, according to a report by FOX-35 TV.
The twister was spotted near Alligator Alley in Tamarac, in Broward County, the TV station said, adding that the “tornado was moving toward Palm Beach County.”
The center of Milton is currently spinning in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, about 190 miles southwest of Tampa. The storm is moving northeast at a pace of 17 mph, according to the latest public advisory from the National Hurricane Center, issued at 11 a.m.
“On the forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, make landfall
along the west-central coast of Florida tonight, and move off the east coast of Florida over the western Atlantic Ocean on Thursday,” the hurricane center said.
“Milton is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida tonight, and remain at hurricane strength while it moves across the Florida peninsula through Thursday,” the agency noted.
Dozens of New Jersey Army National Guard members and equipment will be heading to Florida this week to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Milton makes landfall.
About 80 personnel and 30 vehicles from the New Jersey Army National Guard are expected to arrive in Florida by the end of the week, state officials said Wednesday.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the weather news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Eric Conklin contributed to this report.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at [email protected] or on X at @LensReality.