Weather

Hurricane Ian: Bucs Game May Move, 120 MPH Winds, Landfall Shifts

Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall near Venice: Updates on storm surge, football games, store closings, residents prepare for winds.

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Hurricane Ian was a Category 3 storm Tuesday morning when it hit western Cuba. Florida's businesses and residents — especially those in the Tampa Bay area, where a direct hit is expected — are preparing for the storm to barrel into the state.
Hurricane Ian was a Category 3 storm Tuesday morning when it hit western Cuba. Florida's businesses and residents — especially those in the Tampa Bay area, where a direct hit is expected — are preparing for the storm to barrel into the state. (Tiffany Razzano/Patch)

Updated at 6:10p.m.

FLORIDA — Weekend college football games are being moved, the Tampa Bay Bucs may play out of state, business owners and residents spent Tuesday putting plywood over windows, and gas tanks were topped off — all in advance of Hurricane Ian's arrival on Wednesday.

Winds will start to pummel the west coast of Florida by Wednesday morning, with 2.5 million residents urged by Gov. Ron DeSantis to evacuate low-lying areas threatened by 10 feet or more of storm surge and a foot or two of rain.

Find out what's happening in Sarasotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Florida's home football game against Eastern Washington scheduled for Saturday has been moved to Sunday, while South Florida and East Carolina, which had been slated to play in Tampa on Saturday night, will instead play in Boca Raton, the Associated Press reported.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers practiced in Miami on Tuesday but WDSU reports the Bucs game against Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs may move to the Superdome in New Orleans. A decision on whether the game will be relocated could come within 48 hours; the possible move is prompted by warnings of ongoing power outages.

Find out what's happening in Sarasotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Charlotte, Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, as well as parts of Manatee County, were all under mandatory evacuation orders as of Tuesday afternoon. Four more counties — Collier, Glades, Highlands and Taylor — were under a voluntary evacuation notice, AccuWeather reported.

Updates in the speed and course of Hurricane Ian now have forecasters predicting the storm will make landfall south of Sarasota Wednesday afternoon as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the storm was about 230 miles south of Sarasota, the National Hurricane Center said.

Stay up-to-date by viewing all Hurricane Ian coverage on Patch here.

Courtesy of NOAA/NHC

The storm could batter the region with a life-threatening storm surge, wind gusts up to 140 mph, and 12 inches of rain.

Though it's hitting just south of the Tampa Bay area, the region will see significant impacts from the storm, as forecasters anticipate a major storm-surge event.

Ian, which strengthened rapidly overnight into a Category 3 storm, continues to target Florida with the prospect of storm surge levels not seen in 100 years, 12 to 24 inches of rain in central west Florida and winds 120 mph as of midafternoon Tuesday.

Life-threatening storm surge looks increasingly likely along much of the Florida west coast, with the highest risk from Fort Myers to the Tampa Bay region, the NHC said.

Hurricane-force winds are expected in the hurricane warning area in southwest and west-central Florida — including the Tampa-St. Petersburg region and south to Fort Myers — beginning Wednesday morning. Tropical storm conditions are expected by Tuesday evening.

Heavy rainfall will spread into central and northern Florida Tuesday night and Wednesday, into the Southeast U.S. by Thursday and Friday.

The major storm made landfall in western Cuba early Tuesday morning, the AccuWeather forecast team reported. The storm brings destructive maximum sustained winds of 125 mph to the island nation and coastal flooding from storm surge and heavy flooding rainfall are expected, as well.

Once it passes over Cuba, Ian is expected to develop into a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it makes its way to Florida.

"Further strengthening is expected to continue through Tuesday after Ian exits Cuba and enters into the Gulf of Mexico," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

Though the storm will approach Florida as a Category 4, it’s expected to weaken a bit as it hits the Tampa Bay area, because of wind shear in the atmosphere’s upper levels combined with dry air to the west and northwest of Ian, Spectrum Bay News 9’s weather team wrote on Facebook.

“The same jet stream that's helping to steer Ian toward Tampa Bay is also going to help weaken it as it reaches this latitude,” according to Spectrum Bay News 9. “Dry air will slowly get wrapped into Ian, which will also help to slowly weaken the storm. Ian will still be a formidable storm when it arrives, but will then start weakening Thursday as it slowly drifts northward.”

Heavy rainfall will increase across the Florida Keys and South Florida Tuesday, eventually moving into central and northern Florida Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center. With these heavy rains comes the likelihood of flash, urban and small stream flooding, as well as prolonged river flooding.

“Expect rainfall up to 12 (inches) in some spots,” Denis Phillips, the meteorologist for ABC Action News, wrote in a Facebook post. “Isolated tornadoes Wednesday and Thursday. Winds gusting between 80 and 100 mph along the coast with lower amounts inland. And of course, what could be the most dangerous issue with Ian, a slow-moving storm with a major storm surge across part of the west coast of Florida.”

Days before Ian’s projected Florida landfall, a storm-surge warning was issued for much of the state’s west coast, with Fort Myers to the Tampa Bay area expected to see the worst of it, the NHC said.

In Tampa Bay, a storm surge as high as 10 feet is expected, the AccuWeather forecast team said. The region hasn’t seen a water level this high since an unnamed 1921 storm caused 10.5 feet of water to surge into the bay.

Hurricane warnings are also in effect for much of the central west coast — including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties — according to the National Weather Service. Hurricane watches have been issued for coastal counties north and south of the Tampa Bay area, with counties further inland under tropical storm warnings.

Hurricane-force winds are expected to buffet the Florida counties under a hurricane warning starting Wednesday morning, the NHC said.

Now, Floridians are bracing for the storm’s impact as they prepare for Ian’s arrival.

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Parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are under evacuation orders that could displace 300,000 residents. Lines were long Monday at gas stations, grocery stores and home improvement stores selling out of storm supplies especially gas generators.

The manager of a Lowe's store in St. Petersburg told Patch they were busy all day and "we just loaded up 50 of (generators) in the last 5 minutes."

Schools have closed in many counties, as well. In many places, public schools are serving as evacuation shelters.

In Pinellas County, those living in Zone A were given a mandatory evacuation order starting Monday at 6 p.m. with mandatory evacuation for Zones B and C starting Tuesday at 7 a.m.

A mandatory evacuation order was also issued for those living in Zone A in Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties. There’s also a voluntary Zone B evacuation in Manatee.

Find your evacuation zone here.

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"This could be the storm we have all feared," said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a lifelong Florida resident. "Please understand that these evacuations are very serious. You need to take preparation now."

Days ahead of landfall, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the entire state. As residents make their plans to evacuate, he suspended tolls in the Tampa Bay area, including the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and many other roads and bridges. He also activated the National Guard, including 5,000 Florida guardsman and 2,000 from Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia.

Meanwhile, utility companies have 25,000 workers stationed in the region and ready to go to get the power back on.

Florida Power and Light, the state’s largest utility company, tweeted that it’s activated its restoration workforce of 13,000 and pre-positioned key pieces of equipment at locations across the state.

In a news release, the company said it’s “continuing to prepare for widespread outages stretching over multiple days due to the slow-moving storm.”

Customers can report outages to FPL and check their status here.

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