Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida's Gulf Coast, bringing with it life-threatening storm surge and winds that can shear off roofs and lead to catastrophic damage.
And while it isn't expected to have much impact at all on the tri-state area, much of Florida's heavily populated cities, including Tampa and Orlando, are directly in the path of the storm — home to many family, friends and loved ones for those in the New York City area.
Milton restrengthened to a Category 5 hurricane late Tuesday afternoon, and still had sustained winds of 160 mph as of 11 p.m. Areas along the coast that are hit directly by the storm could face up to a 15-foot storm surge. Both those threats, along with up to a foot of potential rainfall, led to many counties calling for mandatory evacuations — less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.
The storm could make landfall Wednesday night in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. It will likely make initial landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.
In its current projected path, the storm would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from northern Florida to the Appalachian Mountains and killed at least 230 people.
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Here's a look at the latest cone and potential weather hazards from NHC:
5-day cone: Where is Milton going next?
Peak storm surge forecast
Rainfall potential
Flash flooding potential
Wind speed probabilities
