Tropical Storm Milton — the 13th named storm in the 2024 hurricane season — has formed and is forecast to become a major hurricane before hitting Florida this week. Milton is forecast to intensify while moving northeastward toward Florida’s Gulf Coast and could make landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane or stronger, the National Hurricane Center reported Saturday afternoon. Milton strengthened from a depression into a tropical storm within hours Saturday, reaching sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. As of 5 p.m., the storm was located over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.

Tampa Bay could see tropical storm-force winds as early as Tuesday. There could be a “risk of life-threatening impacts” including storm surge, wind and flash flooding along parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. advisory. Heavy rainfall is expected ahead of the storm on Sunday and Monday, which could be “at or near major hurricane strength” before landfall. Predictions of the track likely will continue to shift in the coming days. The forecast cone suggests the eye of the storm could make landfall somewhere along Florida’s west coast, which includes Tampa Bay. If the storm tracks northward, it could mean stronger intensification as the system has more time to sit over warm Gulf waters, forecasters said. But the storm’s effects could be felt beyond its landfall, reaching areas already devastated by Hurricane Helene last month.

Austen Flannery, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Tampa, said it’s critical for those impacted by Helene to pay attention to this storm and prepare if necessary. “There’s debris, there’s all sorts of stuff that hasn’t been cleaned up. There’s a lot of structures that are really probably not safe to be in for another storm,” he said. “What we’re forecasting is not good for our coastal communities.” The National Hurricane Center is tracking two other hurricanes in the Atlantic, although neither appears to pose a major threat to Florida. Local governments, including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, are offering sandbags for residents ahead of the storm. // www.tampabay.com