I’m so grateful to work at FOX6 Milwaukee, WITI-TV where we not only give viewers the weather but we get to explain complex weather topics in an easy to understand way. In powerless situations, knowledge is power. In this case, I did a deep dive into Hurricane Milton and the science behind it. It is more important than ever for folks to have a deeper understanding of what is driving these storms.
So this is a super powerful Category 5 hurricane. What happens with strong hurricanes? Their eyes are smaller. That's not a broad eye. It's a very narrow eye. Why is that? Well, because the smaller the eye, the stronger the winds. Like a figure skater spinning, bringing their arms in, they spin faster, right? Same thing with the hurricane. So what happens with these very powerful hurricanes is the eye can kind of collapse on itself a little bit. That's what we're seeing tonight. That's called an eyewall replacement cycle, and it happens with very powerful hurricanes. So we're seeing the eye regenerating tonight. That's why the storm has slightly weakened from the last update. It is still a Category 5 storm. But what's gonna happen with this new eye is it's likely going to be a bit broader and caused the storm to become broader. So that's why this hurricane is forecast to weaken to a CAT4 or CAT3 at landfall #1 because of the eyewall replacement cycles #2 because it's encountering more wind shear as it heads towards Florida. What does that mean? Well, it doesn't really change the impact at all. In fact, this is completely in the forecast and has been in the forecast for slight weakening. Take a look at our exclusive Fox model here. Again, this track could change by up to 100 miles, but as of tonight, it is still showing landfall very late on Wednesday night, very close, if not over Tampa Bay and then over Orlando. Why is this such a big concern not only for the wind but also for the storm surge? And we saw this with Helene. We were showing you live on this broadcast a 7 foot storm surge in Tampa that night. Look at this. The storm surge could be as high as 10 to 15 feet in Tampa. And I want you to think about that for a minute. 10 to 15 feet of saltwater pushing in from the ocean into your house. That's really an incredible unsurvivable amount of water. That's why evacuations, mandatory evacuations are taking place in Florida tonight. Guys, this is such a serious storm and we're watching it hour by hour. For you, Alright, we know you.
Retired
2moTom, your the best!