‘Here we go again:’ Hurricane Milton strengthens to Category 4 and aims at Helene-weary Florida

MIAMI — Hurricane Milton has strengthened to Category 4 and continues to intensify two days before it’s due to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast, where communities now are rushing cleanup from catastrophic Hurricane Helene.

Ahead of what could be the state’s largest storm exodus in seven years, officials are ramping up evacuation orders, closing schools and issuing dire warnings of storm surge and widespread power failures. Milton boasts top sustained wind speeds of 150 mph, the National Hurricane Center said at 8 a.m. today, when the storm was about 745 miles west-southwest of Tampa, moving at 8 mph.

It is expected to reach Category 4 strength by tomorrow and make landfall Wednesday evening as a destructive and life-threatening Category 3 storm with 120-mph winds. It is due to hit between Cedar Key and Naples, which includes the Tampa area. With very low vertical wind shear and incredibly warm sea-surface temperatures, Milton will be able to gain steady to rapid strength over the next few days. Already, its top sustained wind speed more than doubled from Sunday to Monday morning, far outpacing the definition of rapid intensification: an increase of 35 mph in 24 hours.