Hurricane Ian Makes Landfall In Florida As Category 4

After making landfall, Ian is expected to move toward central Florida Wednesday night and Thursday morning. On Friday, Ian is forecast to turn north toward the northeastern Florida coast before moving toward the Georgia and South Carolina coasts late Friday.

Ian first formed as a tropical storm on Sept. 23 before surging in strength. It made landfall in Cuba on Tuesday, knocking out power to the entire island, the Cuban government said.

Only a handful of storms with maximum sustained winds of more than 155 miles per hour have hit the US, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In the past 50 years, storm surge flooding has caused nearly half of the deaths associated with landfalling tropical cyclones, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Weather disasters are inextricably linked to human-induced climate change. The planet has already warmed 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880, according to NASA, and that’s making disasters worse. Wildfire seasons are getting longer. Hurricanes are getting wetter and more dangerous. Heat waves are getting hotter, more frequent, and longer. Heavier rainfall across the US is triggering more inland flooding. And the cost of climate disasters is soaring. Stopping this vicious cycle will require drastically reducing our reliance on climate-polluting fossil fuels.

As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, winds had slightly decreased to 140 mph as the hurricane, but even as it continues to weaken, forecasters said it could still be near hurricane strength as it approaches northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Tropical storm warnings and storm surge watches have been issued in some regions of North Carolina and South Carolina.

The next public advisory from the National Hurricane Center will be released at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

You can track Hurricane Ian on the NOAA website.