Hurricane Milton Brought Devastation Across Central Florida (RECAP)

H​urricane Milton is tracking away from Florida with continued threats of high winds, flooding rain and storm surge, but conditions should improve across the state later today.

(UPDATES: Milton's Impacts, Reports And More)

R​ecap Of Milton

F​ollowing Hurricane Helene's devestating strike in Florida's Big Bend, Milton struck two weeks later bringing catastrophic rainfall flooding, 100 mph gusts, a tornado outbreak and storm surge to Florida's peninsula.

T​he storm killed multiple people and broke numerous meteorological records.

H​ere are a few notable factoids from Milton:

-​ Highest rainfall total: St. Petersburg, Florida: 18.87 inches

-​ Highest wind gust: 105 mph in Egmont Channel, Florida

-​ Highest known storm surge: 5-6 feet in various spots in southwest Florida include Naples and Fort Myers. This is likely underestimated and numbers are likely higher in Sarasota or Charlotte Counties.

-​ Milton was this season's 5th Gulf Coast hurricane landfall.

-​ Milton was Florida's 3rd hurricane landfall this season.

-​ 126 tornado warnings issued. This is the highest number of tornado warnings issued in Florida in one day.

-​ 46 tornadoes confirmed. The state's most in 70 years in one day.

Here's the storm formation, intensity and track history for Milton: A swirl began to brew in the Gulf of Mexico around October 4 as the remnants of the East Pacific's Tropical Depression Eleven-E passed northward from the Gulf of Tehuantepec into the Bay of Campeche.

T​ropical Depression Fourteen formed on the morning of Oct. 5 in the southwest Gulf of Mexico and shortly thereafter was deemed Tropical Storm Milton.

T​he storm then rapidly intensified into Hurricane Milton about 24 hours later at 1 p.m. CDT on Oct. 6.

T​he next day, Milton underwent another incredible round of rapid intensification. Winds increased from 90 mph at 1 a.m. CDT on Oct. 7 to 180 mph just 15 hours later at 4 p.m. CDT.

Milton's 180 mph winds made it one of only nine other Atlantic hurricanes to hit that wind threshold or higher.

Its pressure dropped to 897 millibars, the lowest observed in any Atlantic hurricane since Wilma in 2005. That also ranks as the fifth-lowest pressure on record for any Atlantic hurricane.

After weakening to a Category 4 the night of Oct. 7 because of an eyewall replacement cycle, the hurricane regained Category 5 intensity over the Gulf of Mexico on the afternoon of Oct. 8.

Milton held at that strength into the morning of Oct. 9 before increasing wind shear caused its winds to weaken on approach to Florida. The hurricane was beginning to gain influence from nearby frontal boundaries and a strong jet stream aloft.

T​he hurricane took on a lopsided appearance with extremely heavy rain and 80-105 mph wind gusts located to the north and northeast of the storm's center. To the south, lighter rain fell as stronger winds pushed storm surge ashore from Sarasota County to Naples.

A blowout tide north of Manatee County emptied out much of Tampa Bay and caused lower water levels along Pinellas County. Water levels dropped by around 5 feet at the northern end of Tampa Bay.

The hurricane then made landfall south of Tampa Bay as a Category 3 at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 9.

M​ilton accelerated across the Florida peninsula in the pre-dawn hours of October 10 and then into the Atlantic after sunrise. It then became a powerful post-tropical hurricane-strength low.

Milton's Storm Reports

T​ornado Outbreak

According to National Weather Service storm survey data compiled by the Southeast Regional Climate Center and emailed to weather.com, Hurricane Milton spawned 46 tornadoes in central and southern Florida from just before midnight on Oct. 8 through Oct. 9.

(​PERSPECTIVE: Milton's Tornado Outbreak)

At least one EF3 tornado has been confirmed to have hit Palm Beach Gardens by the NWS in Miami. NWS Miami has surveyed 15 different tornadoes. Two additional EF3 tornadoes were confirmed in St. Lucie and in Glades County. The EF3 Tornado in St. Lucie killed six people, making it the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in over 25 years.

Rainfall-driven F​looding

A pair of flash flood emergencies were issued ahead of landfall on October 9 because of heavy rain in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk Counties, including Lakeland, Winter Haven and Wesley Chapel.

Rainfall totals of 10 to 19 inches soaked southern Pinellas County, coastal Hillsborough County and western Manatee County.

St. Petersburg, Florida, reported more than five inches of rain in just one hour along with a gust to 90 mph in that hour. Parts of downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg flooded due to as much as 17 inches of rain.

Tampa broke its monthly rainfall record in just one day by receiving over 11 inches of rain. That record had stood for over 100 years. Waist-deep water was reported in St. Petersburg and Tampa due to rainfall-driven flooding.

S​torm Surge

Water levels rose about 8+ feet near Sarasota close to landfall Wednesday evening. A​ storm surge of 5 to 10 feet was been recorded from Naples to Siesta Key, including Charlotte Harbor, with inundation toward the higher end of that window likely occurring in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Water levels fell by around 5 feet at the top of Tampa Bay due to blowout winds while the mouth of Tampa Bay saw a climb in water levels by 1 to 2 feet. Naples saw a storm surge of 5.75 feet.

V​enice, Florida, may have been near ground zero for storm surge, but the amount of storm surge will need to be measured by looking at water lines. The surge pushed sand through homes and businesses. An unofficial wind gust to 100 mph was recorded there.

M​anasota Key, to the south of Venice, also saw major storm surge.

M​ilton's strong winds and storm surge also cut a new pass through a barrier island near Englewood, Florida, which is being called Milton Pass by locals. This new pass comes two weeks after Helene ripped open Midnight Pass on Siesta Key, which was widened by Milton.

Storm surge inundated some areas of northeast Florida's coast early on October 10th because of strong winds blowing onshore on the back side of Milton. M​oderate to major flooding was reported along the St. Johns River from a combination of storm surge and heavy rainfall.

D​amaging Winds

Hurricane-force winds swept through much of Central Florida.

A​n extreme wind warning was issued for Milton's northern eyewall and the metro Tampa Bay area where winds exceeded 90 mph.

Winds gusted up to 105 mph in Egmont Channel, 102 mph in Sarasota, 101 mph in St. Petersburg, 97 mph in Venice, 93 mph in Tampa and 90 mph in Venice. A sustained wind of 78 mph was recorded in Venice at an elevated station. St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field and several cranes in downtown suffered serious damage. In Tampa, the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater was also wrecked.

Small p​lanes were flipped due to strong winds in Venice, Florida.

To the east, Orlando International Airport recorded a wind gust to 86 mph.