Milton Moves Offshore, Flood Threat Remains

Milton will continue to move away from the Florida Peninsula today and farther into the Atlantic, with conditions gradually improving across Florida.

As of 5 p.m. EDT, Milton was located near 29.5 N, 76.3 W, or about 710 miles west-southwest of Bermuda, and 220 miles north-northeast of Great Abaco Island. Its top sustained winds have dropped to 70 mph, and Milton has fully transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone. Milton is moving east at 21 mph, and its minimum central pressure has climbed to 983 mb, or 29.03 inches of mercury.

All warnings on Milton have now expired.

Milton will continue to move to the east-northeast today, pushing farther into the Atlantic Ocean as a post-tropical cyclone. A cold front guiding it from behind will help inject dry air and stronger wind shear into the system. As a result, Milton will only weaken despite it moving back over water. It will move towards the east-northeast through the end of the weekend as a post-tropical cyclone and will move south of Bermuda on Saturday.

Nearly two dozen tornadoes accompanied Milton’s arrival on Wednesday, including one that produced a 92 mph gust at North Palm Beach General Airport. Several large and destructive tornadoes tore across Martin and St. Lucie counties, with reports of several casualties.
 
Wind gusts within the core of the storm reached 102 mph in Sarasota, 94 mph in St. Petersburg, and 74 mph in Tampa. Inland, wind gusts were equally impressive, with a gust to 95 mph at Walt Disney World resort, and 71 mph at Leesburg. Rainfall totals were also immense, with more than 23 inches at Clearwater Beach,18 inches at St. Petersburg, and 16 inches near Indian Rocks.