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Hurricane Ian's center is approaching western Cuba and the storm is expected to move toward Florida, triggering a series of alerts and flood warnings. This satellite image was captured shortly after 2 p.m. ET Monday. |
The National Hurricane Center said on Monday that Hurricane Ian is expected to deliver a dangerous storm surge and gusts as high as 140 mph when it approaches Florida's Gulf Coast in the middle of this week.
At 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Ian had intensified into a strong Category 3 hurricane and was approaching western Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, according to forecasts. Numerous shelters were erected by authorities in the Pinar del Rio province of Cuba, and precautions were taken to save crops in Cuba's primary tobacco-growing region. The west shore of the island could see storm surges of up to 14 feet (4.3 meters), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane center warned that in certain places, Ian's storm surge "may elevate sea levels by as much as 9 to 14 feet over normal tidal levels" when it makes landfall in Cuba. In Florida, the surge is anticipated to be significantly less severe, although portions of Tampa Bay may still experience levels that are 5 to 10 feet over average.
According to the NHC's 5 a.m. alert, Ian was about 5 miles west of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and was heading northwest at a speed of 12 mph. According to hurricane center senior expert Daniel Brown, Cuba should anticipate extremely high hurricane-force winds, a potentially fatal storm surge, and a lot of rain.
The storm's trajectory is predicted to change during the course of the following 48 hours, moving toward the north and northeast. The timing of these movements will probably decide where the storm makes landfall on the U.S. mainland.
Ian sets off alarms after a quiet summer
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Victoria Colson, 31, of Tampa, Fla., loads sandbags into her truck along with other residents who waited for over 2 hours at Himes Avenue Complex to fill their 10 free sandbags on Sunday. |
For western Cuba, there is a hurricane warning, which indicates that hazardous conditions are about to develop. A hurricane watch is in effect for about 100 miles of the Florida coast in the United States, from Englewood to the Anclote River. This area includes Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. Typically, 48 hours before the arrival of storm conditions, a hurricane watch is issued.
In a season that just saw its first hurricane earlier this month, Ian is the fourth Atlantic storm of 2022. It hasn't happened yet, despite projections of above-average activity in the 2022 hurricane season. This is due to variations in the jet stream and heat waves in northern latitudes.
But Ian's ominous demeanor serves as a reminder of a hurricane expert's frequent caution: Just one severe storm is enough to completely change people's lives.
Jamie Rhome, the interim director of the NHC, told NPR earlier this month that "it just takes one land-falling storm to make it a disastrous season for you."
In order to make it easier for federal and state agencies to coordinate their preparation and reaction, both President Biden and Governor Ron DeSantis have declared emergencies in Florida.
People in Florida are tracking the storm closely
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Hurricane Ian will strengthen into a major storm before it runs into western Cuba and Florida, forecasters say. |
All eyes are on projections that depict Ian's possible course along the eastern Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Even though the hurricane is not predicted to make landfall in their area according to the most recent track, experts nevertheless advise everyone in the area to have an emergency plan in place.
According to predictions, the storm will continue to travel north toward the Panhandle while still being offshore of Florida's western coast. But along the way, it will pour down a lot of rain, up to 15 inches in some places and 8 to 10 inches in central and western Florida.
Due to the double-whammy of the storm surge and waves that are driven by high winds, the deepest waters are anticipated to impact the storm's right side in places along the shore.
By the middle of this week, the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle could see a life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and significant rainfall, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Shoppers in the expected route of the storm are loading up on goods like water and batteries. While some shelves were reportedly bare in northern Florida, people in the Tampa region appeared more at ease and hopeful that the hurricane would miss them.
A customer at a Winn-Dixie in Sarasota informed member station WUSF on Sunday that "it's heading west." We've looked at the models, and just a few of them seem to have an effect on us; the others all point to the Panhandle.
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