Chilly start this morning with some upper 30s popping up on the map across some inland communities. We also had an active start to the day with some predawn thunderstorms rolling through the Cape and Islands. All and all, it’ll be a quiet day with temps in the low 60s this afternoon with a mix of sun and clouds.
Another spoke of energy tonight may produce another passing sprinkle/shower, but much of the time is dry. Tomorrow will be a chilly day with highs only in the mid to upper 50s. In additional, it’ll be a breezy day with a northwest wind gusting 20-30mph.
The chill is widespread Friday morning with lows in the 30s for many, outside the city, as patchy frost is possible. The bounce back is nice though, in the mid 60s in the afternoon.
Saturday looks mild, near 70. Sunday will be cooler, low 60s with a few spotty showers late in the day. Early next week looks cool.
In the tropics Hurricane Milton continues to be a big story, and for good reason.
Milton starts this morning as a Category 5 hurricane with max sustained winds of 160mph as it moves to the northwest at 14mph. Milton will make it’s approach toward the west coast of Florida, making landfall just after midnight, as a category 4 hurricane.
As it makes landfall, a large/destructive storm surge will push in. That surge will be as high as 10-15 feet where Milton makes landfall, and just to the south of the eye. For Tampa Bay, it’s almost an all or nothing set-up. A track over the mouth of Tampa or St. Pete or Clearwater, would push a huge storm surge into Tampa Bay and cause the highest surge in over 100 years. If Milton makes landfall just south, near Siesta Key, then it’s a blow out tide/wind in Tampa Bay. In that scenario, the damage from the surge in Tampa would be much, much less.
Farther south, a large surge is pretty much a lock near and south of Siesta Key to Boca Grande. Even 100 miles south of landfall, there will be a significant surge, so folks all the way down the Southwest Coast of Florida will be vulnerable to coastal flooding. Below is the latest storm surge forecast from NHC.
