Hurricane Milton is rapidly intensifying.
On Sunday, forecasters upgraded Milton from a tropical storm to a hurricane a day earlier than anticipated. Hours later, Milton, which was projected to make landfall in Florida with Category 3 strength, is now expected to strengthen to Category 4 within the next two days.
Milton is currently churning in the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 85 miles per hour. It was about 805 miles away from Tampa as of Sunday 5 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, the government of Mexico issued a hurricane watch for the north coast of the Yucatán peninsula from Celestún to Cabo Catoche, where a storm surge of up to 4 feet is expected.
