Tropical Storm Milton formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday as forecasters expect the storm to quickly strengthen into a major hurricane over the next few days. Milton is expected to rapidly intensify over the next 36 hours and could be a major Category 3 hurricane when it reaches the west coast of the Florida peninsula mid-week,

Forecasts suggest Hurricane Milton is likely to make landfall in the western part of the Florida peninsula, bringing rain, ocean surge and damaging winds.

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.