
Life-Threatening Hurricane Michael Now Has Top Winds of 150 mph, Pressure Down to 923 Millibars
Hurricane Michael continues to rapidly intensify right up to landfall. Top winds are now 150 mph and the central pressure is 920 mb.
Hurricane Michael continues to rapidly intensify right up to landfall. Top winds are now 150 mph and the central pressure is 920 mb.
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane’s sustained wind speed. This scale estimates potential property damage. Hurricanes reaching Category 3 and higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant loss of life and damage.
National Weather Service Doppler Radar indicated extreme winds in excess of 130 MPH, associated with the eyewall of Hurricane Michael, were moving onshore.
Maximum Sustained Winds: 145 MPH
Minimum Central Pressure: 928 mb
Movement: NNE at 14 MPH
Location: About 60 miles SW of Panama City and about 65 miles WSW of Apalachicola.
The devastating eyewall of Intense Hurricane Michael is less than four hours from beloved sections of the Florida Panhandle coast between Laguna Beach and Cape San Blas. The eyewall will bring extreme winds and storm surge of 9-14 feet to the coast, spreading far inland in places. This is a life threatening situation and anyone still in place needs to assess their situation and go to their last resort shelter.
Water levels are rising along the coast of the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend area. The hurricane continues to strengthen and has turned just to the right of due north heading for an early afternoon landfall near or just east of Panama City it appears.
Here are some important forecast graphics for surge, wind and rain associated with Hurricane Michael.
The Air Force plane continues to find lower and lower central pressures in Hurricane Michael.
MICHAEL NOW A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE: Overnight Michael strengthened into a dangerous, life threatening category four hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 140 mph. Landfall comes around midday today near Panama City Beach.
Rainbands are spreading across the Florida Panhandle. Pressure has fallen to 937 millibars. Top winds are 140 mph.
Four Category Hurricane Michael continues to intensify and may do so right up to landfall.
Category four Hurricane Michael is turning north-northeast as expected and will make landfall somewhere between the communities of 30A and Apalachicola early this afternoon with a devastating and deadly storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rains.
As of the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds are at 125 MPH, making it a major hurricane at category 3 strength. Movement is still to the north at 12 MPH. The minimum central pressure is at 947mb.
Friend of the blog and satellite expert Sheldon Kusselson has produced a neat infographic tonight comparing Michael with Hurricanes Harvey, which produced tremendous floods in Texas last year, and this year’s Florence, which caused flooding in the Carolinas.
We are now starting to see the northern part of the eyewall on the NWS Radar out of Eglin Air Force Base (KEVX) at this point, and that means that it is only now 210 nautical miles south-southwest of Panama City, and about 193 miles southwest of Apalachicola, as of 8:55 PM.
Michael is becoming better organized which does not bode well for the coastal areas it is targeting.