What to Know
- After growing to a monstrous Category 5 storm on Monday, Hurricane Milton slightly weakened to Category 4 by early Tuesday on its path toward Florida
- The storm could weaken back to Category 3 before it makes landfall as early as Wednesday on the west coast of Florida, NBC News forecasters said
- Milton had maximum sustained winds of around 155 mph and was moving east-northeast about 520 miles southwest of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center said in the latest bulletin
- Tampa Bay is under both a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning, as the National Hurricane Center forecasts that it could be inundated with between 10 and 15 feet of storm surge
- The NHC said the storm surge threat was a "life-threatening situation"
- The Florida Keys, Miami-Dade and Broward counties were under a tropical storm warning. Flood watches remain in effect in South Florida. See all severe weather alerts here
Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Tuesday but was rebounding in intensity as it continued on a path toward Florida's Gulf coast as an extremely dangerous major storm, forecasters said.
“Today is the last full day for Florida residents to get their families and homes ready and evacuate if told to do so,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tuesday.
