The storm is expected to make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida. No impacts are expected for Santa Rosa County.
Milton’s sustained winds were near 155 miles per hour, with higher gusts. The storm is expected to remain a major hurricane when it makes landfall.
Here’s the latest information from the NHC:
“At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Milton was located near latitude 25.0 North, longitude 84.8 West. Milton is moving toward the northeast near 16 mph (26 km/h). A northeastward motion is expected through tonight. A turn toward the east-northeast and east is expected on Thursday and Friday. On the forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida late tonight or early Thursday morning, and move off the east coast of Florida over the western Atlantic Ocean Thursday afternoon.
… Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles.
The minimum central pressure based on NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter data is 915 mb.”