WxWatcher007

Thanks. Definitely not a met, just been studying tropical since I was a kid. Literally.

I think the skyrocketing temperature graph above says it all. Like @CoastalWxsaid, sometimes you just need to tweak conditions to change the outcome and there’s no doubt Milton is intensifying right now given the recon data and increasingly impressive satellite presentation. Yesterday was surprising, but today is where we could see that peak barring an ERC at this point.

NHC says it doesn’t have much time to acquire (sub)tropical characteristics. Interestingly, these baroclinic lows have struggled to become tropical this year.

I think the recon data on that last fix (still waiting for VDM) along with the unambiguous clearing and warming of the eye supports at least 155mph at 2pm, if not an upgrade to 160. I could see them waiting until the next recon though.

Recon reporting FL winds of 145kt on that latest pass.

Well I had no idea my post in the main tropical thread would be that popular lol. It’s nice to add value.

A worthwhile read from one of the best

The NHC settles it. Not surprising to see conflicting viewpoints when there’s conflicting data. Sequences of microwave images and recent Hurricane Hunter observations suggest that Milton completed an eyewall replacement overnight, and the new eyewall has contracted down from 22 n mi to 12 nm in diameter. However, it does not appear that the hurricane weakened much after the eyewall replacement, and it could have rebounded with the outer eyewall contraction. A dropsonde released by the NOAA P-3 in the northeastern eyewall recently measured an average wind of 156 kt in the lowest 150 m of the sounding, which equates to an intensity of 130 kt. The latest pressure reported by the planes is 929 mb.

Yeah, it looked like the FL winds went up in one of the flights to 144kt, but the IR and data hasn’t suggested intensification since. The lightning may be a precursor to intensification but that’s not enough evidence for me. It’ll be interesting to see if it can in fact reintensify today.

My personal belief remains that this will end up further north, probably near Clearwater as you said yesterday, but we’ll see.

Let’s try to take a more comprehensive look at Milton this morning. Overnight, Milton completed an Eyewall Replacement Cycle in which the winds came down from their exceptional peak and the pressure rose from a staggering 897mb to 924mb. This morning’s recon flight has the latest VDM showing 932mb, though indications are this is starting to fall again. In my estimation, Milton is starting to reintensify. In the last few frames you can see a warmer and more defined eye, and until shear picks up, I think the only thing slowing this down over the coming hours will be if another ERC attempt begins. The VDM also had the new eye at 12nm, so the intensification rate could be substantial today. Milton is gaining latitude and as frustrating as it may be, we are not at a place yet to know the final landfall location, which matters immensely for coastal communities. But first, I want to talk other impacts. Wind The radius of maximum winds is still pretty small. Hurricane force winds only extend out 30 miles per the 5am advisory. This may help Milton try to reach a second peak today, but every expectation is that as this gains latitude and makes its final approach the wind field will grow substantially. As a result, in addition to higher wind speeds due to a major hurricane landfall, hurricane force gusts are likely across the peninsula in the path of the storm, hence the hurricane watches and warnings. Given the metropolitan areas in the path, damaging winds will likely cause widespread damage—you don’t need cat 4 winds for that. At the landfall point at the coast, it’ll just make things worse. HAFS-A shows the expansion of the wind field in a way that makes sense to me. IMO as we saw with Helene it’s far worse to have lower peak winds reach a larger section inland than extremely high winds only reach a narrow section of coast. Now Pre-landfall Aerial Flooding I’ve been talking about this since the beginning and I’ll keep doing so. We can’t underestimate the aerial flood risk. Now we have a High Risk for excessive rainfall for much of central Florida, extending into Orlando. This kind of flooding gets underestimated and kills as a result in many storms. Inland folks need to understand this risk and be prepared to take action if they are in a low lying area. Edited to add more detailed version of above graphic Surge The surge potential is likely already guaranteed to be met somewhere. Unfortunately, Milton’s intensity, growing size, and heading will bring Major to catastrophic surge to some portion of the west coast of Florida. Given the still fresh damage of Helene, the structural damage could be even more profound. Even on the east coast there will be surge, but the main focus is rightfully on the west coast. This, is where track matters so much. It’s extremely important to not get locked into one solution or even model suite trend yet. If you’re in the potential path prepare as if the worst is coming to you. The 00z super ensemble shows us that a lot of real estate is still at risk of the direct hit. This will likely shift only slightly, but enough to make a huge difference for places like Tampa, Sarasota, and Ft. Meyers. I not only think we’re still searching for that final landfall point, we also have to be abundantly clear eyed about the fact that given the angle of approach, wobbles—which are common features near landfall—can dramatically change where the worst surge ends up. Folks I cannot make it more clear—you can have a spot on NHC forecast that’s still off by 10-25 miles. Nobody should be locking in a landfall point at this range. Timing, which also hasn’t been nailed down to the hour, matters here too for high/low tide. The bottom line is that this is a multi-hazard dangerous storm, even inland. I think we see a run at another peak today before shear and another ERC fully disrupt the intense inner core. I do think that we see weakening before landfall, but with an expanded wind field and Milton coming off a high peak, a landfall intensity of 125-135mph remains a reasonable possibility. We don’t know yet where the landfall point will be, and honestly, I don’t think we’ll truly know that until a few hours before landfall. To anyone in the path that’s still on the fence about the seriousness of this one—get off of it. This is as serious as it gets. Hope this long post helps some.

The VDM at 3:29z reported concentric closed eyewalls at 6 and 22nm diameter respectively. 2°C difference. The latest VDM (4:32z) now reports only one closed eyewall at 16nm with an 8°C temperature difference. 927mb.

Wow!

Given how high end it is structurally and the contracting inner eye, I wonder if we see a smoother merger of the concentric eyes rather than a major disruption. I’d place a bet on that right now which could make tomorrow even more likely to be the peak than tonight.

With a 4nm wide eye.

Wait a minute, there’s no way with an eye that’s at best been 10nm miles wide today lol

Recon is descending now. Should start getting data shortly.

180mph/905mb

I know what you mean. I’m guessing they will raise intensity slightly at 5 a sent recon, and then we’ll see what’s going on under the hood when this latest plane gets there.

They’re certainly doing the best they can. They’re weenies as much as we are. But they have limited crews, planes, and procedural schedules to live by—probably some of it for safety reasons.

Yeah, this is about as structurally sound as it gets. Hopefully the recon will get back in there soon to continue documenting it, but unless there’s a messy ERC the HAFS-B might be right in the structural changes in the next 24-30 hours.

Models continue to develop a modest low. Do you think it’ll have enough to become fully tropical?

Never a doubt

Absolutely extraordinary.