Hurricane Milton Update: Storm Expected to Double in Size Before Landfall

Hurricane Milton is expected to double in size before landfall on Florida’s western coast on Wednesday night.

Late Tuesday morning, Milton was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, according to the most recent National Hurricane Center (NHC) update, making it 7 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane.

After hitting Category 5 status on Monday, the storm weakened slightly but appeared to be intensifying again. Forecasts show Milton making landfall in Tampa on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, but the expected wind speeds and exact location of landfall are still uncertain.

As of Tuesday around noon Eastern time, Milton was a “compact storm,” National Weather Service meteorologist Christianne Pearce told Newsweek. However, the storm is expected to roughly “double in size” before it makes landfall, meaning its impacts will spread even further.

“Hurricane #Milton Advisory 14: Milton Forecast to Retain Major Hurricane Status and Expand In Size While it Approaches the West Coast of Florida,” the NHC posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday morning.

Pearce said the storm will undergo a transition “right before it reaches the coast,” in which Milton will weaken slightly but grow larger.

“The area impacted will be more widespread, so all the damaging winds, the surge will be further, the rainfall could be more over a larger area,” Pearce said. “The impacts themselves reach far from where the center of the storm will be.”

Pearce urged people within evacuation zones to heed any orders, as they still had Tuesday to prepare.

Milton is expected to be the first hurricane to directly hit the Tampa area in over 100 years. Photos and videos on social media show highways, and interstates clogged with cars as people try to flee the areas likely to be hardest hit by the storm.

According to the NHC, people within the storm’s path, particularly those on Florida’s western coast, will face a triple threat from Milton. Destructive storm surge, an “extremely life-threatening situation,” devastating hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall will hit Florida.

“A large area of destructive storm surge, with highest inundations of 10 ft or greater, is expected along a portion of the west-central coast of the Florida Peninsula. If you are in the Storm Surge Warning Area, this is an extremely life-threatening situation, and you should evacuate today if ordered by local officials,” the center warned. “There will likely not be enough time to wait to leave on Wednesday.”

Hurricane-force winds also are expected to be life-threatening as they spread inland, the NHC said.

“Preparations to protect life and property, and to be ready for long-duration power outages, should be complete by tonight,” the NHC said.