Idalia reached hurricane status Tuesday as it approaches Florida in the warm Gulf of Mexico, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
The storm’s organization improved overnight, with most of an eyewall shown in images from Cuban radar data.
The “extremely warm and deep waters the hurricane will be traversing,” combined with lower wind shear point to rapid intensification, the hurricane center said.
The hurricane is forecast to make landfall Tuesday night or early Wednesday as a major hurricane with sustained winds near 120 miles per hour.
Here’s a live tracker of Idalia’s expected path:
Live updates:Idalia now a Category 1 hurricane on its trek toward Florida’s Gulf Coast
Hurricane Idalia tracker
This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
Hurricane Idalia spaghetti models
Florida evacuation orders, forecast
At least 22 of Florida’s 67 counties have evacuation orders in place and schools have closed in many counties as the state’s residents prepare for high winds and potential flash flooding.
Emergency managers warn Floridians along the potential path of the storm to prepare for potentially one category higher than forecast. At landfall, Idalia is forecast to be a powerful Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which means winds in excess of 111 mph.
Tropical storm force winds extend up to 175 miles from the center of the storm.
Storm surge – a sudden rise in water levels along beaches and into inland waterways – of at least 2-3 feet is possible along the state’s entire west coast, depending on how Idalia’s landfall coincides with full moon high tides. The potential storm surge in Tampa Bay could be life-threatening, the hurricane center warned.
A surge of up to 12 feet is possible nearest where the storm makes landfall along the coast.
Rainfall of 4-8 inches is forecast along portions of the state’s west coast and Panhandle, as well as along the path of the storm through southeast Georgia and the eastern Carolinas, with isolated amounts up to 12 inches near where Idalia makes landfall.
As Idalia crosses into the Atlantic, large swells are expected along the Southeast U.S. coast, with hazardous surf and rip currents.
