Hurricane Ian makes Cuba landfall, forecast to strike Florida as Cat 3

Ian strengthened in a single day and made landfall early Tuesday over western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is now forecast to be a serious Cat 3 when it makes landfall in Florida’s west coast.

Several new watches and warnings for Florida have been introduced Tuesday morning, together with for South Florida, which isn’t in Ian’s cone of concern however continues to be anticipated to see a few of its gusty winds, rain and storm surge. The Florida Keys tropical storm warning was prolonged from the Lower Keys to incorporate the Middle Keys, and tropical storm watches have been issued for inside Miami-Dade and Broward counties and inside and coastal Palm Beach County.

Ian was about 5 miles south of Pinar Del Rio and about 175 miles south-southwest of the Dry Tortugas early Tuesday, in keeping with the National Hurricane Center. It introduced at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday that Ian’s heart had made landfall simply southwest of La Coloma within the Pinar Del Rio Province of Cuba as a Cat 3 with most sustained winds of 125 mph.

The storm is anticipated to spend only some hours over western Cuba and may emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico someday Tuesday, the place situations are ripe for it to strengthen right into a Category 4 hurricane. Forecasters anticipate it’ll then be battered by vertical wind shear and drier mid-level air that can probably result in it weakening again right into a Cat 3 by the point it reaches Florida’s west coast.

The hurricane heart says it adjusted Ian’s observe to the southeast of the earlier forecast and are asking folks to not deal with the precise observe since Ian’s “wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards will extend far from the center.” Ian is now forecast to be a Cat 3 hurricane by the point it’s offshore of Tampa and St. Petersburg, with a possible landfall between St. Petersburg and Sarasota.

A hurricane warning was prolonged south alongside Florida’s west coast to Bonita Beach. A tropical storm warning was issued Tuesday morning for the Middle Florida Keys from the Channel 5 Bridge west to the Seven Mile Bridge, in addition to for Florida’s west coast from the Anclote River north to the Suwannee River and for Florida’s east coast from the Jupiter Inlet to the Volusia/Brevard County line, together with Lake Okeechobee. A tropical storm watch was issued for Florida’s southeast coast from Deerfield Beach north to the Jupiter Inlet.