MIAMI — A massive tornado crossed over Interstate 75 in Florida early Wednesday morning ahead of Hurricane Milton, according to the National Weather Service's Miami office.
The twister was part of the state's high tornado potential ahead of the Category 4 storm's landfall on the state's western coast Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: El huracán Milton generó un tornado masivo en Florida antes de tocar tierra
"Many places may experience tornado damage with a few spots of immense destruction, power loss, and communication failures possible," the NWS said. "Numerous tornadoes can greatly hinder the execution of emergency plans."
Hurricanes and tropical storms have a high risk of producing tornadoes. NWS meteorologists say hurricane-generated tornadoes most often happen in thunderstorm systems embedded in rain bands far away from a hurricane's center. Areas to the storm system's "dirty" right side, which have the most severe wind shear and instability, have the highest tornado risk.
Milton came on the scene on Saturday as a tropical storm. Early Monday morning, Milton kicked off a rapid intensification starting as a Category 2 storm. It has waffled between Category 4 and 5 strength since Tuesday.
The Tampa Bay and Ft. Meyers areas are expected to bear the brunt of Hurricane Milton. Tampa has the potential to see 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, but this is highly dependent on the track. A slight shift in the landfall south of Tampa Bay would result in lower surge totals.
Rainfall from Milton is expected to range between 5-12 inches with localized totals up to 18 inches across portions of the Florida Peninsula and the Keys through Wednesday night. That rainfall will bring risks of flash, urban and areal flooding along with minor to moderate river flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center.