HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It's official — Jim Cantore is in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton, a powerful, major hurricane expected to make landfall midweek somewhere along Florida's Gulf Coast.
The Weather Channel said on Monday the famed hurricane harbinger touched down in Hillsborough County. Cantore and several other Weather Channel meteorologists were dispatched to Florida's West Coast to cover the tropical system.
Early Monday morning, the Facebook group called "Tracking Jim Cantore" had a post indicating Cantore was in Tampa. A post on Facebook from the Weather Channel Monday morning showed Cantore reporting from the area.
Where is Jim Cantore?
Right now, Jim Cantore is reportedly in Tampa, Florida. A Weather Channel report on Monday showed him reporting from Davis Islands.
What's going on with Milton?
Hurricane Milton has weakened slightly to a Category 4 storm but it still "poses an extremely serious threat to Florida," the National Hurricane Center said.
While it's forecast to bring dangerous conditions to Florida and the Tampa Bay area, Milton is expected to continue weakening slightly before reaching landfall sometime midweek.
Milton came on the scene on Saturday as a tropical storm. Early Monday morning, Milton kicked off a rapid intensification starting as a Category 2 storm. By noon, the storm had strengthened to a large Category 5 hurricane.
Florida could see impacts beginning Tuesday evening into Wednesday.
As of the latest advisory, the storm is about 560 miles southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds at 155 mph. Earlier on Monday, Milton had maximum sustained winds of 180 miles per hour.
It is moving east-northeast at 12 mph.
"While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida," the NHC said.
