All of Palm Beach County — including West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton — lies south of the forecast cone for Hurricane Milton as of Tuesday morning, but forecasters warned that the storm’s exact track, intensity and timing remain uncertain. and will probably change.
After days of changing forecast tracks, the models have settled on a region within 40 miles north of southern Sarasota. Tampa Bay, where a direct hit would cause a catastrophic storm surge, is not out of the woods yet.
As of Wednesday morning, Milton was still a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 miles per hour. Some weakening is expected over the next twelve hours as the storm hits wind shear, but it will likely be too late to save the region from a major landfall.
The forecast cone of uncertainty extends from Tarpon Springs in Pinellas County south to Port Charlotte in Charlotte County. Forecasters warned residents along nearly the entire Gulf Coast to finalize their hurricane survival plans within hours or evacuate if officials order to do so. Wherever the storm hits, it will create a nearly insurmountable storm surge of more than 10 feet.
After landfall, the forecast shows Milton following parallel to Interstate 4 toward Orlando, leaving the east coast somewhere between Port Orange and Port St. Lucie. A hurricane warning extends to the entire central part of the state, from the west to the east coast.
Regardless of where the storm directly hits, much of central Florida is at risk of flash flooding, destructive winds and possible tornadoes.
Here is the latest prediction trajectory:
