First responders in the water outside an apartment complex that was flooded from and overflowing creek due to Hurricane Milton (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Hurricane Milton's Florida destruction could be followed by new Category 3 storm

Forecasters are warning that the weatherfront tentatively dubbed Potential Hurricane Nadine could wreak more havoc on the Sunshine State.

by · Daily Record

Florida is gearing up to be battered by another major storm after being ripped apart by monster Hurricane Milton. Forecasters are warning that a new system tentatively dubbed Potential Hurricane Nadine could reach Category 3 strength.

It comes after Milton wreaked havoc across the state killing at least four people. The fierce storm was downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 1, but a new one brewing could be even worse.

Milton made landfall overnight on Wednesday, with videos and pictures showing town and counties across the state being torn apart by hurricane-force winds. Around 80,000 people were evacuated to shelters, state Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed, with residents being warned to find refuge.

Some properties are almost entirely underwater due to Hurricane Milton (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Forecasters have now warned that Potential Hurricane Nadine could exceed the already dangerous benchmark. Jim Dale, the senior meteorological consultant for British Weather Services, told the Mirror that the "unstable atmosphere" caused by warm Caribbean seas could create a new "tentative" Category 3.

He said: "Potential Hurricane Nadine is precisely that at the moment, ‘potential’. However, from the all-time record warm seas in the western Caribbean, and what appears to be a very unstable atmosphere within the region, a tropical storm is expected to develop in a week’s time, gaining strength as it heads north towards Florida in 12 to 14 days time.

The formation of Hurricane Milton over the Gulf of Mexico (Image: NOAA/AFP via Getty Images)

"There’s where Nadine could very easily come of age. It’s a 50/50 at the moment. Very tentative Category 3 hurricane forecast, into Miami and moving north - but it could easily be higher, or a flop!"

According to the weather experts at the Met Office, a hurricane is an area of low pressure over tropical or sub-tropical waters, with organised convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and sustained winds near the surface of at least 74 mph circulating either anti-clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) or clockwise (in the southern hemisphere).

The whole storm system may be five to six miles high and 300 to 400 miles wide, although sometimes can be even bigger. It typically moves forward at speeds of 10-15 mph, but can travel as fast as 40 mph.

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