Idalia danger expands - Hurricane ramping up for rapid growth

As predicted, Hurricane Idalia is strengthening as it makes a beeline for Florida’s Big Bend along its northern Gulf Coast. Additional rapid intensification is expected all of the way to landfall Wednesday morning.

Idalia will rapidly intensify tonight and early Wednesday over the very warm and wide-open Gulf of Mexico waters. Upper-level wind shear, the one thing that could stop Idalia’s growth, is minimal over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

It will become a major hurricane before landfall, which is expected to occur early Wednesday in the Big Bend area of Florida.

This is an extremely dangerous situation. Residents living within the hurricane warning should hunker down for the arrival of Idalia’s effects. The outer bands of the hurricane with winds in excess of 40 mph have arrived with weather deteriorating through out the night along the immediate Florida Gulf Coast.

If you are in an evacuation zone and ordered to leave, do it now. Storm surge ranging from 4 to 7 feet in the Tampa area and even higher 10-plus feet surges are predicted in a large swath of the Big Bend area of the Florida Gulf Coast. There is a chance of a 15 feet of surge close to the eye's landfall. Water levels this high will swamp low-lying coastal communities.

Other dangers Idalia will bring on Wednesday across northern Florida and the Gulf Coast include heavy rain, quick-moving tornadoes, high winds, and battering waves. Even areas away from the immediate coast will need to be prepared for flash flooding, widespread and long-term power outages, and the growing tornado risk.

The Weather & Radar Task Force will be doing frequent updates on Hurricane Idalia over the next several days. Track the storm anytime using our WindRadar and WeatherRadar.

**This same information can be seen in Spanish, written by our bilingual meteorologists if your phone is set to Spanish and using our app too. Tell your family and friends who only speak Spanish so that they can also be informed and stay safe, please.**