RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — As of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Ian was clocked at having winds of 125 miles per hour, making it a Category 3 storm. Ian is expected to strengthen as we go through the next 24 hours, with wind speeds possibly reaching 140 miles per hour, turning it into a Category 4 storm by later Tuesday night.
Ian will begin to turn toward the northeast late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, and head towards Tampa Bay, Florida. The storm will weaken as it approaches Tampa Bay, but right now it looks to make landfall as a strong Category 3 storm early Thursday morning.
Ian will bring as much as 10 to 20 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, across western and Central Florida. The very strong winds will also be an issue. However, the extreme storm surge that could be found in Tampa Bay is also a big issue, reaching at least 10 to 16 feet if not locally higher amounts.
Once Ian makes landfall it will slowly begin to weaken as it moves up the Florida coast, and then into the southeastern United States. The remnants of Ian will affect Virginia weather this weekend, providing some much-needed beneficial rain beginning very late Friday night and continuing into Monday morning.
Based on the current trend in our weather models it looks like the remnants of Ian will be in Virginia Saturday and Sunday. We are not looking for any strong or damaging winds nor are we expecting any severe weather with the remnants of Ian.
Right now, it looks like the first rain from Ian should arrive in Central Virginia overnight Friday into Saturday morning. Saturday will be a very wet day with rain steady to possibly heavy at times. More rain is likely for Sunday as the remnants of Ian are still nearby.
Ian will slowly depart early Monday morning so any showers should finally give way to a mixture of sun and clouds during the afternoon.
