Idalia continues to strengthen, expected to be major hurricane on landfall
As expected, Hurricane Idalia has continued to strengthen with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and higher gusts, as the NHC warns that the storm is forecast to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall on the Gulf coast of Florida Wednesday morning.
The latest update from the NHC, issued at 11am EDT, reveals that hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 160 miles.
Idalia has continued to strengthen after reaching hurricane status early this morning, and remains on track to reach the Florida Gulf coast early Wednesday morning local time. As it continues to track over warm Gulf waters, Idalia is moving toward the north near 14 mph.
“A faster motion toward the north and north-northeast is expected through early Wednesday while Idalia approaches the Gulf coast of Florida. A turn toward the northeast and east-northeast is forecast late Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the center of Idalia near or along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas,” says the NHC.
With maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, Idalia is getting closer to becoming a Category 2 storm, and the NHC has warned that rapid intensification is expected before landfall, “and Idalia is forecast to be a major hurricane when it reaches the Gulf coast of Florida Wednesday morning.”
Now, the NHC forecasts that the peak sustained wind speed before landfall will be almost 127 mph, with peak gusts at 155 mph, meaning Idalia is expected to make landfall as a major Category 3 hurricane.
You can see the latest location with wind speed and sea surface temperature forecast in Tomer Burg’s forecast map for Idalia below:
The storm surge forecasts from the NHC have also increased, with the peak, which is forecast at Aucilla River to Yankeetown, now at 15ft compared with 12ft previously.
As we wrote previously, the landfall location will be key in determining the level of insured losses caused by Hurricane Idalia, with any major landfall on the Florida coast expected to be a multi-billion dollar event for the re/insurance industry.
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