https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/204837.shtml?cone#:~:text=The%20letter%20inside%20the%20dot%20indicates%20the%20NHC's%20forecast
Posted on 10/08/2024 1:04:49 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Residents along Florida’s Gulf Coast were fleeing in droves on Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Milton’s predicted landfall, in what officials said was likely to be the biggest evacuation the state has seen since Hurricane Irma struck in 2017. Evacuees have faced hourslong traffic jams on highways and gas stations running out of fuel.
Nine counties in Florida, including some inland ones, have ordered mandatory evacuations for Milton, the strongest Gulf storm since 2005. Officials were preparing for “the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely, since 2017’s Hurricane Irma,” Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management said in a news conference on Sunday.
That storm prompted the largest hurricane evacuation in the state’s history, with about 6.5 million people fleeing their homes.
Officials have warned residents in evacuation zones to leave as early as possible to avoid traffic jams. “This will be one of the largest evacuations along our state’s west coast. If you wait, you will get stuck in traffic,” the government of Sarasota County, which issued evacuations orders, said Monday on social media.
But those who fled north on Monday were already reporting heavy traffic, gas stations that had run out of fuel and trips taking several hours longer than usual.
Jacqueline Camenisch, 62, from Kentucky, cut short her family vacation in Orlando and drove north on Monday evening with her children and grandchildren to Panama City. She had initially wanted to evacuate the family to Gainesville, about 100 miles north, she said, but found that all accommodation was completely booked.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Article: with about 6.5 million people fleeing their homes.
We live about 15 miles from the coast just north of Tampa and no one in our neighborhood is leaving.
Just as bad. The locals know how to get around and it’s still gonna back up. All of the roads feed into the interstates eventually. It’s a mess
FDOT cameras show slow but steady movement.
All the recent NY transplants panicking. The coast in the Tampa area will get some surge and lower end hurricane winds. Could be pretty bad within a few miles of said coast.
So far it hasn’t even turned north yet. It is on a due east path to go between the keys and Cuba. Point is it may not hit where they say it is going to hit, they still don’t know for sure where it is going to hit. This is worse than knowing...
I don’t think I have ever seen them this inaccurate so far.
“It is on a due east path to go between the keys and Cuba.”
Wobbling ENE the last few hours
it’s moving better now than it was earlier today and yesterday on i75 northbound through columbia county...
Google Maps shows nearly all highways are green (little traffic). DeSantis and Floridians seem to be doing a good job.
I have been sitting right non top of it for three days now. That northern loop? it never took that loop north. It never deviated from a linear path straight between the keys and Cuba. They even had to adjust the model back down and east because it was not going where they wanted it to go. Trust me, as soon as it actually turns north I will holler.
But good news for you... They are now adjusting the target path further south along the coast. They originally had the line going just north of Tampa Bay. Now they are starting to shift it south and it is between Tampa and Cape coral. Lets see if they shift it south even further as this goes east.
https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=25.307,-85.22,6z
Here is a plot showing today’s wobbling ENE changing from yesterday’s ESE track. Next few hours will be very telling!
If it doesn’t start turning north soon, the tip of Florida is going to be the one to get it. I hope they are ready just in case.
The blue course is the most likely. But it very well could hit further south than it shows.
Kids and grandkids evaced from Tampa Bay overnight to east coast FL near friends. They used their Tesla SUV without a hitch.
It just started to turn slightly north about 2 miles off the path it was on.
That’s the way. No need to head out of state.
It took my daughter 2.5 hours to get from Tampa to Orlando today. (Her husband’s boss insisted he work until noon.)
Almost all guidance and forecasts say landfall Tampa Bay and Sarasota region, exact track cannot be known this far out, but keep in mind worst surge and winds will be 10-30 miles south of landfall (in the forward portion of what remains of eyewall and core). Impacts will be considerably less 10-30 miles north of landfall. The surge is usually the killer, wind damage will be considerable but it likely won’t be lethal if you don’t venture out.
It is now headed north 20 miles off it’s last path. So it is now officially turning north towards Florida.
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/204837.shtml?cone#:~:text=The%20letter%20inside%20the%20dot%20indicates%20the%20NHC's%20forecast
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