Milton was a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico late Monday Eastern time.
Right now the models predict that it will make landfall near Saint Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday night.
Milton is the 13th named storm to form in the Atlantic in 2024. In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that there would be 17 to 25 named storms this year, an above-normal amount. This season follows an overly active year, with 20 named storms — including an early storm later given the official name of “Unnamed.” It was the eighth year in a row to surpass the average of 14 named storms. Only one hurricane, Idalia, made landfall in the United States. Typically, the El Niño pattern that was in force last season would have suppressed hurricanes and reduced the number of storms in a season. But in 2023, the warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic blunted El Niño’s usual effect of thwarting storms.
[Map by the New York Times]