Credit: National Hurricane Center

Credit: National Hurricane Center

Here's the latest on what's happening with Hurricane Michael — and what it could mean for Tampa Bay.

As of the 5 p.m. EST update:

Michael has sped up — from 7 MPH to 9 MPH. This is good; the faster a storm moves, the less time it has to gather mass. 

Michael's pressure has stayed the same — 978 millibars. Which is good, except it's still sorta low, and the lower the pressure of a hurricane, the more severe the storm.

Michael's wind speed has increased — from 75 MPH to 80 MPH. This is not great, but it's still a Category One. 

Although it won't be the eye of the storm — the National Hurricane Center still projects that fairly north of us — we're still going to get some rain (2-4") and rain. Expect the brunt of that to hit the Tampa Bay area about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Stay dry, Tampa Bay!



This article appears in Oct 4-11, 2018.

Cathy's portfolio includes pieces for Visit Florida, USA Today and regional and local press. In 2016, UPF published Backroads of Paradise, her travel narrative about retracing the WPA-era Florida driving...