TAMPA—Hurricane Milton is now a Category 5 hurricane, and President Joe Biden approved Florida’s emergency declaration ahead of its landfall.
Spotted 735 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, as of 11:55 a.m. ET on Oct. 7, the National Hurricane Center announced that “data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that Milton has strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane.
“The maximum sustained winds are estimated to be 160 mph (250 kph) with higher gusts.”
A Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale requires sustained winds of 157 mph or greater.
However, Milton is still expected to weaken before landfall. The latest forecast advisory puts it less than five miles southwest of St. Pete Beach, Florida, at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 9 with winds of 125 mph….