Helene is upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane as it barrels across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, forecasters say
MIAMI (AP) — Helene is upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane as it barrels across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, forecasters say.
MIAMI (AP) — Helene is upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane as it barrels across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, forecasters say.
Hailstones of up to 7cm were recorded as severe thunderstorms hit the state, with warnings of more fierce weather to come.
Residents of one state have been warned of damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rain amid a severe weather warning.
A US weather expert in the path of the hurricane spoke to Yahoo News from his home in Orlando, issuing an ominous warning.
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have pleaded with residents to evacuate now ahead of Milton’s landfall
UPDATED at 4:20 p.m. PT: Hurricane Milton has restrengthened into a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds at 165 mph. Early this morning, it had dipped to a 150 mph Cat. 4. Milton’s barometric pressure has also continued to drop this afternoon after rising earlier today. At 2 p.m. pressure fell to 918 mb, …
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) -Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida's battered Gulf Coast as an enormous Category 5 storm on Tuesday, triggering massive traffic jams and fuel shortages as officials ordered more than 1 million people to flee before it slams into the Tampa Bay area. Milton, which exploded on Monday into one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record, was forecast to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, threatening a stretch of Florida's densely populated west coast that is still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.
Storm surge warnings covered almost the entire west coast of Florida in the early hours of Wednesday morning as “dangerous major hurricane” Milton strengthened on its way to the state, threatening to plunge city districts underwater and violently hurl construction cranes into nearby buildings.“I can’t stress enough that this is not an ‘if’ event. It’s a ‘when’ event,” Pinellas County Director of Emergency Management Cathie Perkins told a Tuesday evening news conference. “We’re going to get hit,
Climate change fueled abnormally high temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and worsened Hurricane Helene’s winds and rain causing ‘massive damage,’ scientists found.
"Meteorologists are running out of adjectives to describe how powerful Hurricane Milton is getting."
The "monster" storm is due to hit heavily populated Tampa Bay with full force on Wednesday.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is warning residents ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall that if they stay in the evacuation area, they will die. “The No. 1 message, as it has been for several days now, is that you need to prepare, do whatever you need to do and then get out of the evacuation zones,”…
This year's warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico helped Milton swiftly become a powerful hurricane, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center calling it the third-fastest intensifying Atlantic storm on record. Milton's rapid power surge appears to be the latest example of a worrying trend, scientists said, with climate change not only fuelling more powerful storms, but doing so more quickly. As storm winds organize into a hurricane, they pull energy from the heat in surface waters.
The National Hurricane Center has warned that Milton may regain strength and grow in size, posing “even more danger” as it is expected to make landfall in Florida by Wednesday evening, slamming into the densely populated Tampa Bay. K-12 schools across 43 of Florida’s 46 counties are set to close on Wednesday, while Orlando International Airport, will halt commercial passenger flights from 8am ET on Wednesday.
The Southbound carriageway is closed as heavy rain hits the West of England.
Hurricane Milton, which reached Category 5 strength Monday, is heading right for Florida's west coast, with a potential landfall near or at Tampa Bay.
Milton is set to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday night or Thursday morning as ‘one of the most destructive hurricanes on record’ for the region
Residents rushed to evacuate Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday, October 7, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton.HurricaneXplorer, otherwise known as David Velez Cuevas, captured this footage showing lines of vehicles sitting on Interstate 4 heading out of Tampa in anticipation of the storm.Several counties were under evacuation orders, including Charlotte, Citrus, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota on Monday, local media reported. Voluntary orders were issued in Glades and Okeechobee counties.Milton was forecast to impact Florida’s west coast on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said. Credit: HurricaneXplorer via Storyful
The Met Office has also warned that thunderstorms may cause flooding and road closures across parts of southern England.
Evacuations have been ordered in the area, which is still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene
These powerful tropical storms are generally becoming more intense as the world warms.