Milton becomes a Category 1 hurricane while Southeast suffers the effects of Helene

Tropical Storm Milton quickly strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday and took aim at Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall.

The hurricane is expected to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon. federal forecasters said.

The storm began as a hurricane Monday afternoon after producing sustained winds of 80 miles per hour and continued to strengthen, drawing fuel from the muggy waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Forecasters said Milton was likely to reach major hurricane status on Monday, indicating a Category 3, 4 or 5 storm. At least sustained winds of 111 miles per hour would be needed to classify the storm as a Category 3.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news conference Sunday that Milton is expected to make landfall in Hillsborough or Pinellas counties Wednesday evening.

As of 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Milton was about 290 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 815 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It gusted maximum sustained winds of an estimated 80 mph, with some stronger gusts, the hurricane center said, and was moving east at 6 mph.

“On the forecast track, Milton is expected to move north of the Yucatán Peninsula and across the Gulf of Mexico, approaching the west coast of the Florida Peninsula by midweek,” the hurricane center said.

The expansion of the tropical storm into a hurricane on Sunday meant that watches and warnings for rain, wind and storm surge were in effect for much of Florida’s west coast less than two weeks after Helene raged through the Southeast.

Rain could begin on Florida’s west coast Sunday from the storm’s outer bands, federal forecasts said. It is likely to rain more heavily on Tuesday and Wednesday. 12 to 20 centimeters of rain, with up to 30 centimeters in some areas, is expected in parts of the Florida Peninsula and parts of the Florida Keys through Wednesday night, bringing with it the possibility of flash flooding and up to moderate river flooding.

The system may also produce 2 to 4 inches of rainfall in parts of the northern Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba.

The hurricane center is warning people in these areas, as well as the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, to closely monitor this system for possible impacts.

Since 1850, only two storms originating in the Gulf of Campeche have struck Florida. If Milton follows his previous path, it would be the third.

It has been 10 days since Helene made landfall along the Big Bend coast of Florida on September 26 after sweeping north through the Gulf, causing a dozen deaths in Pinellas County and homes and businesses along the Tampa Bay peninsula damaged or destroyed.

Statewide, 25 Helene-related deaths were reported, while at least 234 people died in six states as a result of the storm.