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SARASOTA, Fla. – Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Tuesday but remained an extremely strong storm that could double in strength before hitting west-central Florida late Wednesday.

“Milton has the potential to be one of the most devastating hurricanes ever for West Central Florida,” John Cangialosi, a specialist with the National Hurricane Center, warned in an update Tuesday. Damaging winds, life-threatening storm surges and heavy rains would extend far beyond the forecast cone, he said.

Milton experienced surprisingly rapid intensification on Monday, with sustained winds reaching speeds of 180 miles per hour. Early Tuesday, winds were 145, still a severe Category 4 storm. Fluctuations in the storm's strength are expected as it approaches the coast, Cangialosi said.

Storm surge of up to 15 feet was forecast for Sarasota, Tampa and other west-central areas. Evacuations were underway, state officials suspended tolls and opened shoulders to traffic. Shelters were open in all 67 Florida counties. Authorities urged residents in evacuation zones not to try to ride out the storm.

“I can say without any dramatization, if you choose to stay in one of these evacuation zones, you will die,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN.

Milton's path updates: Hurricane Milton tracker

developments

∎ Milton was about 545 miles southwest of Tampa early Tuesday, rolling east-northeast at a speed of 12 miles per hour.

∎ The storm was expected to hit the northern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday. The area is home to the picturesque colonial-era city of Merida, home to 1.2 million people, several Mayan ruins popular with tourists, and the port of Progreso.

Take a closer look at Milton's path: How the storm develops

In the lead-up to Hurricane Milton, streams of customers and hurricane preparers filled major retail stores in Manatee County. East Bradenton resident Karen Tonkin Wakefield stopped at Lowe's Home Improvement Store and an Aldi grocery store in Parrish on Monday for her final preparations.

“I've lived here since 1982. I have two houses in Parrish and just get a few last minute things,” Wakefield said. “I'm fine, I'm not panicking because we still have a lot left over from the last one (Hurricane Helene) a few weeks ago.” Read more about preparing for Hurricane Milton.

Read the full story: Preparations for Hurricane Milton continue in Florida

Milton, the fast-developing hurricane that shows no signs of stopping, will not technically become a Category 6 because that category does not currently exist. But the storm could reach the size of a hypothetical Category 6 — further fueling debate over whether the National Hurricane Center's long-used scale for classifying hurricane wind speeds from Category 1 to 5 may need to be revised.

If Milton had reached wind speeds of 192 miles per hour, it would have exceeded a threshold that only five hurricanes and typhoons have reached since 1980, according to Michael Wehner, a climate scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Jim Kossin, a retired federal scientist and science adviser at the nonprofit First Street Foundation.

The pair wrote a study examining whether the extreme storms could form the basis for designation as a Category 6 hurricane. All five storms occurred in the last decade. Kossin and Wehner said they were not suggesting adding a Category 6 to the wind scale but were trying to “stimulate broader discussions” about communicating the growing risks in a warming world.

Read the full story: Could Milton become Category 6?

—Dinah Voyles Pulver and Michael Loria, USA TODAY

Fed by warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton became the third-fastest storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Hurricane Center, as the storm grew from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours. Its path from west to east was also unusual, as Gulf hurricanes typically form and land in the Caribbean Sea after moving west and then turning north.

“It is extremely rare for a hurricane to form in the western Gulf, move east and make landfall on the west coast of Florida,” said Jonathan Lin, an atmospheric scientist at Cornell University. “This has a big impact as the track of the storm plays a role in where the storm surge will be greatest.”

Contribution: Reuters

On By John Fenwick

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