Tropical Storm Milton is expected to develop into a major hurricane as it heads toward Florida

Tropical Storm Milton is expected to become a major hurricane in three days as it heads toward Florida's already storm-battered West Coast, federal forecasters said Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center said in a forecast discussion that the storm was quickly becoming a “strong hurricane with multiple life-threatening threats” to the coastline north and south of the Tampa Bay region.

The center's forecasters said Milton was likely to reach hurricane status – defined by sustained winds of 75 mph – on Sunday evening, followed by a major hurricane – Category 3, defined by sustained winds of at least 111 mph – in less than 72 hours.

As of 2 a.m. ET Sunday, Milton was 365 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 855 miles west-southwest of Tampa. Maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 45 miles per hour, with some stronger gusts, according to the hurricane center. It was moving north-northeast at a speed of 4 miles per hour, they said.

The storm “is moving slowly but is expected to strengthen quickly,” the hurricane center said in all caps in its latest update. “The risk of life-threatening impacts is increasing for portions of Florida’s west coast.”

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Celestun to Cancun.

On Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis preemptively declared a state of emergency for 35 counties, including the Tampa Bay Peninsula in Pinellas County, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene.

The governor's statement cited possible “life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts” for the state's west coast, starting as early as Tuesday evening and continuing into Wednesday.

Milton's explosive growth from tropical depression to tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday presents the storm as another potential disaster for the Southeast.

It lasted less than 10 seconds after Helene made landfall along Florida's Big Bend region on September 26 and made its way to Tennessee and North Carolina, where it caused devastating flooding.

In Florida on September 26, Helene whipped waves and pushed the Gulf of Mexico 8 feet deep onto otherwise dry land occupied by houses, apartments, mobile homes, restaurants, bars and shops. Twelve people died in Pinellas County and 25 statewide. At least 230 people in six states died as a result of the storm.

Storm's path is rare

Milton is being driven by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, where a buoy tracked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration near the storm's forecast path recorded a water temperature of nearly 86 degrees Saturday evening, 2 degrees warmer than the air. The storm is already known for its rare features during a busy Atlantic hurricane season.

It will be the fifth hurricane to make landfall in the United States in 2024. This makes the years 2004, 2005 and 1893 the most hurricanes to have made landfall since records began.

And it is a rare product of its development in the Bay of Campeche, a sheltered southern coastal strip in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Yucatán Peninsula. Since 1850, only two storms originating there have struck Florida; None have made it in the last 155 years, the last one to take this route was documented in 1867.

According to Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach, Milton is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which has recorded the most such storms between September 24 and October 5.

The last time three named storms (including Kirk and Leslie) raged across the Atlantic was in October 2018, he said.

Heavy rain is possible ahead of the storm

Hurricane and storm surge watches will likely be required Sunday for certain regions of Florida, many of which were just hit hard by Helene.

The hurricane center's latest forecast cone has Milton reaching major hurricane status early Monday morning and reaching the Pinellas County coast by Wednesday evening.

The cone has some uncertainty because previous forecasts average 150 miles out when predicting a storm's behavior four days before landfall, the hurricane center said.

“No matter where the track goes, there will be heavy rain,” Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a video update Saturday.

Residents are urged to prepare

The hurricane center said areas of heavy rain will hit parts of the state on Sunday and Monday, well before the tropical system arrives, increasing the risk of flooding.

Rain could begin on Florida's west coast Sunday from the storm's outer bands, federal forecasts said. It is likely to rain more heavily on Tuesday and Wednesday. 12 to 20 centimeters of rain, with up to 30 centimeters in some areas, is expected in parts of the Florida Peninsula and parts of the Florida Keys through Wednesday night, bringing with it the possibility of flash flooding and up to moderate river flooding.

The system may also produce 5 to 10 cm of rainfall in parts of the northern Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba.

The hurricane center is warning people in these areas, as well as the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, to closely monitor this system for possible impacts.

Residents of the Tampa Bay area and beyond should prepare, the National Hurricane Center said in its forecast discussion.

“Residents in these areas should ensure they have a hurricane plan, follow all advice from local authorities and check for forecast updates,” it said.

Pinellas County is Provision of sandbags to its residents. The National Weather Service classified the region as a possible threat for Tropical Storm Milton, although it is too early to tell how the storm will affect the county.

Rhome, of the hurricane center, said residents on the state's west coast should make sure they have several days' worth of food and water on hand, and that vehicles are stocked with fuel and cellphones are charged. You should also have one to two weeks' worth of prescription medications and sufficient cash in case credit, debit and digital payment systems fail.