Hurricane Milton battering Florida
Related Story
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, Florida at about 830pm CT on Wednesday. At the time, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 120mph.
Hurricane Milton became a Category 5 hurricane at 11am CDT on Monday. The storm continued to intensify afterward, with Hurricane Hunter Aircraft indicating 175 mph maximum sustained winds by 1pm later that day. Its intensification rate has only been surpassed by Wilma (2005) and Felix (2007).
Milton maintained its strength through Wednesday morning before some gradual weakening into the afternoon hours. The system prompted a massive preparation and evacuation response across Florida given the major storm status and ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene just weeks ago. The storm never posed a significant threat to Louisiana. However, seas were elevated through Wednesday.
The Storm Station is here for you, tracking the tropics on every platform. Your weather updates can be found on News 2, wbrz.com, and the WBRZ WX App on your Apple or Android device. Follow WBRZ Weather on Facebook and Twitter for even more weather updates while you are on the go. You can also find tropical updates on our Hurricane Center HERE.