Forecasters downgrade Hurricane Milton to a Category 3 storm

The hurricane now has sustained winds of 125 mph, which puts it in the Category 3 zone which ranges from 111-129 mph. The storm started as a Category 5 hurricane early Wednesday morning, but spent most of the day as Category 4.

By Misty Severi

Published: October 9, 2024 4:26pm

Weather forecasters on Wednesday afternoon downgraded Hurricane Milton from a Category 4 storm, to a Category 3 hurricane, just hours ahead of its expected landfall in Florida.

The hurricane now has sustained winds of 125 mph, according to CNN, which puts it in the Category 3 zone which ranges from 111-129 mph. The storm started as a Category 5 hurricane early Wednesday morning, but spent most of the day as Category 4.

The change is not expected to drastically decrease its impact on Florida.

The shift comes after the National Weather Service told Florida residents still in the Sunshine State to "shelter-in-place." The warning also comes as the state issues more than 50 tornado warnings as of 3 p.m., with at least 11 confirmed tornadoes being spotted so far, per weather service reports. The bulk of the tornado warnings were issued in Miami.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.