Hurricane Milton continues to move towards the Sarasota / Tampa Bay area. It has weakened to a Category 3 Storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 MPH. Obviously, that’s better than a Cat 4 or Cat 5 storm, but a Category 3 storm is still considered a Major Hurricane.
As you can see from the National Hurricane Center’s chart, the windfield has widened. That mean Miami Springs and South Florida is highly likely to experience Tropical Storm Force conditions tonight and into tomorrow morning.
Now, we may or may not get sustained tropical storm force winds, but we are very likely going to see tropical storm force gusts. The chart above gives our area a 50% chance of Tropical Storm Force Winds.
The biggest risk to our area will be tornadoes. The National Weather Service has issued a record number of Tornado Warnings today. A Tornado Warning means the National Weather Service has either spotted a tornado on the ground or has identified a tornado via radar.
10/9 at 3pm: Here is a view of all of the *Tornado Warnings* issued by NWS Tampa Bay, NWS Miami, and NWS Melbourne thus far.
As of 3pm, 53 total tornado warnings have been issued today…
41 issued by NWS Miami
Please remain aware for current and future tornado warnings! https://t.co/j3fr86cifC pic.twitter.com/Zc3WjqD7D6
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) October 9, 2024
Miami-Dade County is under a Tornado Watch until 9pm tonight.
Taken by Greg Travers on SR80 a few minutes ago!
**Please take the Tornado Warnings we are issuing as fast as we can seriously!**
This is a very favorable environment for quick-moving and dangerous Tornadoes. https://t.co/mROCXoeq8I pic.twitter.com/0AIX1iuOBl
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) October 9, 2024
If a Tornado Warning is issued for our area, seek shelter immediately. Ideally in a central portion of your home away from windows.
The less devasting, but more likely risk is that we can lose power. So right now, you should lower your thermostat to cool your home as much as possible. This will help to keep your home reasonable should you lose power overnight.
The good news is that any power outage will likely be minor in our area. FPL will prioritize small power outages so that they can fix it quickly and then surge staffing to the areas with the most damage.
NOTE: Should you decide to run a generator, NEVER – NEVER run a generator inside your garage or inside your home. You risk carbon monoxide poisoning.
Overall, we should be in good shape tonight, but make sure your phone can receive Tornado Warning alerts should a warning be issued in our area.
Stay safe everybody.