The National Hurricane Center's track forecasts for the eventual path of Hurricane Milton were unusually accurate, starting from the first storm advisory. Why it matters: The early confidence in the eventual path of Hurricane Milton allowed officials time to warn the public and prepare communities for the powerful storm.

A s powerful Hurricane Milton nears the Florida coast, forecasters are carefully charting its winds on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. But there’s no easy way to categorize the storm surge that’s expected to ravage ocean-front communities.

Hurricane Milton strengthened as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Tuesday and could wallop one of the state’s major population centers with huge storm surges, lashing rain and destructive winds just two weeks after deadly Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.