Wednesday, Sept. 28 Tracking Timeline
11 p.m. Update:
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Hurricane Ian is now over Central Florida and winds have dropped to 90 mph.
The storm continues to move to the north-northeast at 8mph. Due to that slow speed, it is going to continue to sit over Florida overnight and through midday tomorrow.
The storm will pass between Orlando and Cape Canaveral before it goes back out into the ocean.
On Friday, the storm will make a second landfall in South Carolina as a tropical storm. This storm will move to the northwest and end up in southwestern Virginia on Saturday night.
4:15 p.m. Update:
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Hurricane Ian remains a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 miles per hour. As it continues to travel over land, however, it will begin to diminish in strength.
Ian’s storm surge will still be a problem for coastal Florida over the next couple of hours from Sanibel Island to Fort Myers. As Ian moves onshore the winds will turn the other way and the coastal storm surge will come to an end.
As the hurricane makes its way northeast across Florida, it will drop between 12 to 24 inches of rain on the north side of the storm. Some of this rain will move into Orlando and even all the way over to Kissimmee and Daytona Beach by Thursday morning. It is expected that this could create some widespread flooding throughout the state of Florida.
Ian will go back over the Atlantic ocean during Thursday night and early Friday morning and will hold as a tropical storm. Its next landfall is expected to be near Hilton Head, South Carolina, by Friday afternoon.
Another storm surge could appear along coastal Georgia and coastal South Carolina as Ian makes that second landfall. However, this storm surge is expected to be much less severe than what is being seen in Florida right now.
Once Ian makes that second landfall it will slide across South Carolina and then into North Carolina before finally transitioning into a tropical depression and then a remnant low. It is that part of the system which will bring Central Virginia rainy weather from Friday through till early Tuesday morning.
3:30 p.m. Update:
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cayo Costa at 3:05 p.m.
There is currently severe flooding in Naples, Florida. The eye of the storm is expected to be crossing through Port Charlotte right now.
8:45 a.m. Update:
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Hurricane Ian has winds of 155 miles per hour and it is nearing category 5 strength, which begins at 157 miles per hour, and is moving to the northeast at 10 miles per hour.
Ian is a catastrophic storm and is anticipated to make landfall near Venice, Florida around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Coastal areas from Punta Gorda down to Bonita Bay, including Sanibel Island, could see a tremendous storm surge of 12 to 18 feet.
Also, a good portion of Florida will see as much as 2 feet of rain with locally higher amounts which will cause widespread flooding.
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MAP: Hurricane Ian storm surge expectation -
MAP: Expected path of Hurricane Ian
Once Ian moves over land it will begin to weaken considerably and become a tropical storm by Thursday. Ian will then slide off of the East Coast of Florida and then back into and back into the United States by Friday morning somewhere near Hilton head South Carolina. Ian will continue to weaken through the weekend but bring Central Virginia quite a bit of rain.
In Virginia
Clouds will increase and thicken up Friday with rain developing during the day. This is the first batch of moisture way out ahead of Ian. It will be a cool day with highs around 70.
The remnants of Ian will be with us this weekend and we will have rain off and on throughout the weekend and some of that rain will be steady at times. Our high temperatures will remain around 70.
More showers are likely on Monday as the remnants of Ian are still nearby. It will remain cool with highs near 70 degrees.
Any lingering showers Tuesday morning will give way to partly sunny skies and it will be a pleasant day with highs in the lower 70s.
