Powerful Cat. 4 Hurricane Ian eye wall moving ashore on SW Florida coast
MIAMI - The extremely dangerous eyewall of Hurricane Ian has moved onshore.
At 12 p.m., the center of the storm was 45 miles west of Naples with 155 mph winds. It was moving toward the north-northeast near 9 mph.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles.
On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to move onshore within the hurricane warning area in a few hours, move over central Florida on Wednesday night and Thursday morning and emerge over the western Atlantic by late Thursday. Ian is forecast to turn northward on Friday and approach the northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts late Friday.
Check out our live updates here.
South Florida can expect a total of 6 to 8 inches of rainfall, with a local maximum of up to 12 inches.
Central and northeast Florida could get 12 to 18 inches, with some areas seeing up to 24 inches.
Miami-Dade and Broward are under a Tornado Watch until 5 p.m.
The combination of storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.
If the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide, the Florida Keys east of Big Pine Key could see a surge of 2 to 4 feet, the lower Keys from Key West to Big Pine Key, including the Dry Tortugas could see 3 to 5 feet, Englewood to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbor, could see 8 to 12 feet, and the Anclote River to the middle of Longboat Key, including Tampa Bay, could see 4 to 6 feet.
Watches and Warnings
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...
* Chokoloskee to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay
* Dry Tortugas
* Sebastian Inlet to Flagler/Volusia County Line
A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for...
* Suwannee River southward to Flamingo
* Tampa Bay
* Lower Florida Keys from Big Pine Key westward to Key West
* Dry Tortugas
* Flagler/Volusia Line to the mouth of the South Santee River
* St. Johns River
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* Cuban provinces of La Habana, Mayabeque, and Matanzas
* Indian Pass to the Anclote River
* All of the Florida Keys
* Flamingo to Sebastian Inlet
* Flagler/Volusia County Line to Little River Inlet
* Flamingo to Chokoloskee
* Lake Okeechobee
* Florida Bay
* Bimini and Grand Bahama Islands
A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for...
* Florida Keys from the Card Sound Bridge westward to east of Big
Pine Key
* Florida Bay
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* Flagler/Volusia County Line to the South Santee River
* Lake Okeechobee