Tropical Storm Watches have been posted for Lake, Orange, Seminole, Polk, and Osceola counties. This means tropical storm conditions are POSSIBLE within 48 hours.
At the 11 a.m. update, the NHC gave Orlando a 61 percent chance of seeing tropical storm-force winds (40-60 mph), a 23 percent chance of 60+ mph winds, and an 8 percent chance of hurricane force (74+) winds. (That 8 is down from 11 late Sunday night).
Aside from that, anybody got instructions for building an ark?
It's a veiled attempt at humor, but heavy rains will be the biggest impact to Osceola County and inland areas from Hurricane Ian, if the current National Hurricane Center projected path of movement and intensity holds true.
"Heavy rainfall will be spreading to central and northern Florida Wednesday and Thursday, potentially causing flash, urban and small stream flooding. Significant prolonged river flooding is likely across central Florida," the NHC said in this morning's storm discussion.
Sandbags are available through the day Monday at Osceola Heritage Park. (click for details). Since the NHC is indicating, "Central West Florida: 8 to 10 inches, with local maxima up to 15 inches. Remainder of the Florida Peninsula: 3 to 8 inches," they may be a good idea if you have flooding or puddling-prone areas of your property.
The 11 a.m. advisory shows a storm with 80 mph top winds, but should reach Category 4 status with winds of 130 mph in the Gulf of Mexico, but wind shear is expected to affect the storm and reduce it to a Category 1 or 2 with top winds of 90-110 mph by the time it makes landfall between the Big Bend area and north of Tampa Bay on Thursday.
"Rapid strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Ian is forecast to become a major hurricane tonight or early Tuesday when it is near western Cuba and remain a major hurricane over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday," the NHC reports. Other notes:
"Further rapid intensification is expected during the next 24-36 h as Ian crosses the high oceanic heat content of the northwestern Caribbean Sea within a very low vertical wind shear environment ... increasing southwesterly shear by 36-48 h is expected to bring an end to the intensification phase. The combination of strong (wind shear) and drier mid-level air will induce weakening thereafter, but Ian is expected to remain at or near major hurricane strength as it passes near the west-central coast of Florida on Wednesday and Thursday."
Ian is expected to slow down Wednesday through Friday — it could take 60 hours for it to traverse the Gulf between Key West and the eastern portion of the Panhandle.
Current NHC coastal watches and warnings: A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Englewood to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Englewood southward to Flamingo (near the southern tip of the state)
Prescriptions: Since you may want to have a two-week supply of prescription medication on hand if the storm effects are prolonged, Gov. DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the entire state, all health insurers, managed care organizations, and other health entities must comply with provisions of section 252.358, Florida Statutes, which allows for early prescription refills. "All health insurers, managed care organizations, and other entities that are licensed by the Office of Insurance Regulation and provide prescription medication coverage as part of a policy or contract shall waive time restrictions on prescription medication refills, which include suspension of electronic “refill too soon” edits to pharmacies, to enable insureds or subscribers to refill prescriptions in advance."
