- Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4, is expected to hit Florida's west coast Wednesday.
- Milton rapidly intensified on Monday, with winds reaching up to 180 mph.
- NOAA's satellite GOES-16 is tracking the storm as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico.
The Sunshine State is bracing for more severe weather in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm on Monday, leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency for 51 counties along Florida's western shores.
Several counties, including Charlotte, Hillsborough, and Manatee, have mandatory evacuation orders, with more expected as the storm approaches.
See Hurricane Milton's rapid evolution from space
On Sunday, Milton's maximum wind speed was 65 mph. By Monday, it had increased to 155 mph as it made its way across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.
NOAA's GOES-16 satellite is tracking Hurricane Milton from space. Here's a snapshot of the storm's evolution, beginning early Saturday afternoon as a tropical storm with 35 mph winds.
Here's how it looked by Monday afternoon as a Category 5 hurricane with max winds of 180 mph. NOAA forecasters said the storm was moving erratically through the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Milton is one of the most rapidly intensifying storms within the Atlantic Basin.
"This intensification rate is third for the Atlantic basin, behind Hurricane Wilma (2005) and Hurricane Felix (2007), which intensified by 105 mph and 100 mph, respectively," Stephanie Zick, an associate professor for Virginia Tech's Department of Geology, told Business Insider in an email.
Cameras on the International Space Station took this photo Tuesday morning as they flew over the Category 5 storm from a safe distance over 250 miles above Earth.
Zick said the reason for Milton's rapid intensification is partly due to the size of the storm's eyewall — the region of thunderstorms and high winds just outside of the calm, central eye.
"The storm started out with a relatively small eyewall," Zick said. "Additionally, the eyewall contracts as it intensifies, similar to how an ice skater's spinning rate speeds up as they pull their arms inward."
By Tuesday morning, Hurricane Milton had lost some of its strength, becoming a Category 4. Milton is forecast to land over Florida on Wednesday night. You can see it approaching the state in one of the latest satellite images taken Wednesday morning by GOES-16.
If the storm reaches land during high tide, it could bring a storm surge as high as 8 to 12 feet in Tampa Bay.
Hurricane season is not over
With Hurricane Milton following close behind Hurricane Helene, which landed over Florida on September 26, it may seem like this sudden uptick in storms is abnormal.
Matthew Rosencrans, the lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said that's not the case.
Storms forming over the Gulf are typical for the month of October, though it's slightly abnormal to see this level of activity so early in the month since it usually happens toward the latter half, he said.
Rosencrans added that Milton is probably not the last storm we'll see this season.
He advised people who are not being impacted now but live in hurricane-prone areas to double-check their supplies and be prepared.
"Unfortunately, the hurricane season is not over until November 30th, so I cannot say that this is the last one," he said.