Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Tuesday but remained an extremely powerful storm that could double in size before slamming into west-central Florida late Wednesday. "Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,

According to the 8 a.m. NHC update, the storm has slightly weakened to a Cat 4 storm but is about 545 miles away from Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph. It is currently moving across the Gulf at 12 mph.

The system is threatening the densely populated Tampa metro area — which has a population of more than 3.3 million people — and is menacing the same stretch of Florida coastline that was recently battered by Helene.