Hurricane Milton poses an 'extremely serious threat' as it barrels ...

Noah Weibel and his dog, Cookie, return home on Monday as their family prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Milton in Port Richey, Florida. Mike Carlson/AP hide caption

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Mike Carlson/AP

Communities in Florida are bracing for the impact of Hurricane Milton, which quickly intensified from a tropical storm to a powerful, life-threatening hurricane much faster than predicted.

The new threat comes just under two weeks after Hurricane Helene — another rapidly intensifying storm — brought catastrophic levels of storm surge, rain and strong winds to Florida.

By early Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center had slightly downgraded Milton from a Category 5 to a Category 4 storm, but officials at the agency warned of the storm's power. "Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida and residents are urged to follow the order of local officials," the NHC said.

As of 8 a.m. ET Tuesday, Milton was about 545 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla., moving at 12 miles per hour and carrying maximum sustained wind speeds of 145 mph. A slew of advisories are in effect across large stretches of the western Florida coastline, where storm surges could reach as high as 15 feet.

Member stations across the NPR Network in Florida are covering the local impact of Hurricane Milton.

➡️ Tampa Bay [via WUSF]

➡️ Tampa [via WMNF]

➡️ Orlando [via Central Florida Public Media]

➡️ Fort Myers via [WGCU]

➡️ Miami [via WLRN]

➡️ Gainesville [via WUFT]

➡️ Jacksonville [via WJCT]

➡️ Find your local station

The storm's center is forecast to skim past Mexico's northern Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, bringing hurricane conditions to the area before hearing northeast toward the U.S.

Milton is expected to make landfall on the western coast of Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday morning. But NHC forecasters also warn that weather conditions in Florida will start to deteriorate much earlier on Wednesday, urging people to complete any preparations on Tuesday.

"Hurricane conditions are expected in the warning area on the west coast of Florida as early as Wednesday afternoon, with tropical storm conditions beginning early Wednesday," the agency said.

“Schools in more than 20 counties are slated to close Tuesday," member station WUSF reports. "The University of Florida and several other colleges canceled classes this week.”

Current projections call for Milton to hit Florida's Gulf Coast south of Tampa as a major storm, then maintain hurricane strength as it blasts across the state south of Orlando and exits into the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters caution that slight deviations in conditions could alter its track, urging residents to be vigilant for updates from local officials.

Counties have enforced mandatory evacuation zones, and state and local officials have profusely warned residents to follow those orders.

In advance of the storm's arrival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 51 counties. "You don't have to evacuate hundreds of miles," Ron DeSantis has said. "Every county has places within them that you can go to. Maybe it's a friend's house, maybe it's a hotel, maybe it's a shelter."

Air travel into and around Florida is already being disrupted by Milton. Tampa International Airport said it was pausing flights beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The Federal Aviation Administration said on X, formerly Twitter, that it was "closely monitoring" the path of the hurricane and advised travelers to check the agency's flight travel dashboard and their airlines for updates.