Hurricane Milton Update: 10/8/24

With Hurricane Milton a little over 24 hours away from making landfall, Milton is still a strong Category 4 hurricane. Although Milton was a category 5 yesterday, overnight Milton underwent an eyewall replacement cycle. During an eyewall replacement cycle what occurs is as hurricanes strengthen, the eyewalls, which consist of “a ring of tall thunderstorms that produce heavy rains and usually the strongest winds,” according to NOAA, become tighter and more intense until they reach maximum strength in their environment. A new eyewall begins to form on the outside of the previous inner eyewall, which essentially will cut off the energy for the intense inner eyewall. Along with the eyewall replacement, the wind field generally expands, creating a larger area where hurricane force winds can be felt. Eye wall replacement cycles are common with Category 5 storms. We will see if Milton will regain Category 5 strength, but the wind shear, in the Gulf, might knock it down as well. Hurricane Milton still will pack a punch with 155mph maximum sustained winds currently.