Tropical storm winds range from 39 to 73 mph. Hurricane winds clock in at 74 mph and greater. For the sake of context, the Melbourne EF0 tornado that ripped off roofing, toppled trees and scattered debris in June in the Bowe Gardens subdivision near Sarno ...

Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest level, in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday on a path toward Florida, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.

Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida to the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricane Milton continues to get stronger as it slowly moves across the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida's coast, where it's expected to become a major hurricane before making landfall later this week.