ORLANDO, Fla. – On Friday, the National Hurricane Center designated the area of disturbed weather in the southwestern Gulf as Invest 92L, allowing for more targeted weather forecasting. Come Saturday, the NHC declared Tropical Depression 14 had formed and, not more than three hours later, had strengthened to become Tropical Storm Milton.
As of 11 p.m. Saturday, Tropical Storm Milton was located about 365 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, moving north-northeast at 5 mph.
Tropical Storm Milton is forecast to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane bringing the risk of life-threatening impacts to portions of Florida’s Gulf coast next week, according to the NHC.
The NHC expects it to remain over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico through Sunday night, then move across the south-central Gulf of Mexico on Monday and Tuesday before approaching the west coast of Florida by midweek.
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Based on the latest forecasts, Southwest Florida may be directly affected.
Latest information shows Tropical Storm Milton strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane Tuesday and impacting Southwest Florida Wednesday morning.
[RELATED: Central Florida counties start offering sandbags ahead of expected surge of tropical rain]
With Saturday’s forecast expected to be overall quiet, it’s a good time to clear drains, clean gutters and fill sandbags if necessary based on your risk level.
According the GFS forecast, many areas could see 4 to 6 inches of rain over the next week.
The EURO models suggests 4 to 8+ inches. The chances of heavy tropical rainfall are rising, and the risk of flooding may increase in the next few days
Aside from Milton, two named storms, Kirk and Leslie, are in the eastern Atlantic, but they pose no threat to the U.S.
Kirk is moving north-northwest and is expected to weaken over the next few days due to moving over cooler waters.
Leslie, located southeast of Kirk, continues to track west-northwest over the open Atlantic holding onto its Category 1 strength through the next several days.
Another wave is expected to move off the coast of Africa in the next few days, with a low chance of tropical development in the next two to seven days.
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