Just days after Hurricane Helene devastated large swatch of western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina comes another major storm, Hurricane Milton, which overnight went from Category 1 to Category 5 as it traverses the hot waters of the Gulf of Mexico towards Tampa, Fla.
According to the latest reports, Milton is now a sustained Category 5 storm that at its current rate of explosive growth could end up breaking all world records for major hurricanes once it reaches the shores of the Sunshine State.
If there was another category beyond Category 5 such as Category 6, in other words, Milton might end up becoming the worst hurricane to strike the United States since pre-Civil War days.
"It's the 12th Category 5 hurricane on record in the Gulf of Mexico and strongest so late in the year," tweeted FOX Weather about what is fast shaping up to be one of the worst ever natural disasters to impact the United States.
7pm CDT Oct 7th -- #Hurricane #Milton remains an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane with winds of 180 mph.
The minimum center pressure measured by a @NOAA_HurrHunter dropsonde was estimated at 897 mb.
Latest: https://t.co/LQEVorqXZH pic.twitter.com/xT7o6vHF7r
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 8, 2024
(Related: Western North Carolina is still reeling from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene – is Tampa the next Asheville to get annihilated before Election Day?)
It's just one major disaster after another before Election Day
Meteorologist Mike Masco announced that Milton is on track to make landfall somewhere in the Tampa and St. Petersburg area of western Florida on Wednesday evening.
"This type of 'direct hit' as well as intensity based on the going forecast has not been seen since the 1848, that hurricane was believe to be a category 4," Masco tweeted.
?HURRICANE MILTON IS NOW A *CATEGORY 5* HURRICANE WITH WINDS AT 160MPH.. LANDFALL FORECAST IN #TAMPA NOT SEEN SINCE 1848
There is the potential for some additional increase in intensity through the day. Latest short-range high resolution forecast models show a landfall in the… pic.twitter.com/b3wqwVBNfm
— Mike Masco (@MikeMasco) October 7, 2024
Tampa Bay's National Weather Service (NWS) division echoed this sentiment by warning people in the Tampa Bay area to complete all preparations before Tuesday night and to evacuate, if possible, as soon as possible.
"If the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years," NWS Tampa Bay ominously wrote on X / Twitter.
The 1848 storm in question, called the "Tampa Bay Hurricane," formed in a similar location as Milton in the Bay of Campeche. It then tracked eastward, just like Milton is doing, before hitting Tampa with a maximum sustained wind speed of 130 mph and a MSLP of 948 hPa.
Milton is already much worse than the Tampa Bay Hurricane in that its wind speeds are clocking in upwards of 180 mph with the minimum center pressure measured by the NOAA's Hurr Hunter at around 897 mb, though Milton could weaken some before making landfall depending on water temperatures, wind shear and other volatile factors.
"It's on its way to beat Wilma at 882," wrote another about the frightening trajectory of Milton.
"This is the second-strongest hurricane by pressure ever recorded here," someone wrote on X / Twitter about this impending disaster. "Truly astonishing and terrifying."
"Andrew's highest winds in '92 were 175 mph," wrote another, comparing Milton to Andrew, one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the U.S.
"This is the fifth strongest hurricane ever in the Atlantic basin with both pressure and wind rating," said someone else.
More related news about these one-after-another disasters that are occurring the closer we get to Election Day can be found at Disaster.news.
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