Hurricane Idalia may not directly hit Tampa Bay but deadly storm surge, wind and rain are expected

Hurricane Idalia 5am forecast 29 Aug 2023 via National Weather Service Tampa Bay

Idalila formed into a hurricane this morning and is expected to make landfall along Florida’s Big Bend north of the Tampa Bay area tomorrow as a Category 3 major hurricane.

As of the National Hurricane Center’s 5:00 a.m. forecast track, Idalia is expected to be due west of Pinellas County as a Category 2 hurricane at 2 tomorrow morning.

The Tampa Bay area is under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning – a surge of 4 to 7 feet is anticipated.

Coastal Tampa Bay area counties have issued mandatory evacuation orders for Zone A.

Find your evacuation zone here.

Expect heavy rain over the next two days and a chance of tornadoes.

Hurricane Idalia is northwest of Cuba with sustained wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour, as of the 5:00 a.m. ET forecast on 29 August 2023.

Meteorologist on WMNF’s Tuesday Cafe to talk about Hurricane Idalia

Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN) meteorologist Megan Borowski joined Tuesday Cafe to talk about Hurricane Idalia.

Listen to the full show here:

“Throughout the rest of the day today, we are expecting this storm to intensify. Continue getting stronger, those winds getting faster. In terms of the Tampa Bay area, Idalia will likely almost parallel the coast the rest of the day today. We’re looking at the onset of tropical storm-force winds sometime tonight into tomorrow morning. That’s the latest forecast from the NHC. The most likely time of arrival actually is sometime tonight. Again from south to north. So Sarasota will start to feel those wind gusts before Tampa/St. Pete. And those winds will continue to work northward. We’ve got that. We do have the potential for those outer bands to start wrapping ashore. The models are a little bit wobbly in terms of timing of that, but it looks like showers thunderstorms, and heavier rainfall rates sometime tonight after sunset is when we get those first outer bands wrapping inland. And the issue there is an increased risk for tornadoes from those outer bands because they’re going to be arriving at night. That adds an extra element of danger. to it because we’re gonna be going to sleep. It’s dark out we’re not really paying attention as much so I urge you as you do wind down for the evening tonight. Make sure you have alerts on on your cell phone so you can take appropriate shelter if a tornado warning is issued.”
– Meteorologist Megan Borowski

Hurricane Idalia storm surge predictions for Pinellas County, Florida

Hurricane Idalia storm surge predictions for Gulfport, Florida via Pinellas County

Also on Tuesday Café: How America’s Gun Laws Fuel Armed Hate

Also on Tuesday Café (29 August 2023) we talked with GIFFORDS Research Director, Kelly Drane about their report called “How America’s Gun Laws Fuel Armed Hate” and the recent hate-inspired mass shooting in Jacksonville.