Tropical Storm Milton upgrades to Category 1 hurricane
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Tropical Storm Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday with its path aimed at Florida.
The hurricane, which comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the state, is expected to make arrive Wednesday afternoon, according to federal forecasters.
As of 2:00pm Eastern, the storm was about 290 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 815 miles west-southwest of Tampa.
It was pushing out maximum sustained winds estimated to be 80 miles-per-hour.
Milton could likely reach reach major hurricane status, denoting a Category 3, 4, or 5 storm, within a day or two.
Watches and warnings for rain, wind and storm surges are in effect for much of the west coast of Florida.
