Hurricane Michael
If Michael reaches the coast with top winds of at least 130 mph (minimal Category 4 strength), it will be the strongest hurricane landfall ever recorded in the Florida Panhandle, as well as along most of Florida's Gulf Coast—all the way from the Alabama border to Punta Gorda—in records going back to 1851.
This isn’t going to be like past western FL panhandle/AL majors like Dennis, Ivan, Opal, Eloise. And it’s not like Hermine, Kate farther east but weaker. #Michael will make new history for central Panhandle, Big Bend. Some of you could get water and wind worse than ever before. pic.twitter.com/5b4AV1c7QR
— Dr. Rick Knabb (@DrRickKnabb) October 10, 2018
Michael has been adhering closely to the general course predicted by our top track models. With steering currents solidly in place, there is no reason to expect Michael to greatly depart from a northward track that will start to bend to the north-northeast around or just before landfall. Model guidance is clustered tightly near the center of the NHC forecast cone.
… and the NHC shows the center to be headed toward Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, arriving around 1-2 PM today (Wednesday October 10)
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