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LIVE BLOG: Updates on Hurricane Milton
WUSF is part of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, which provides up-to-the minute weather and news reports during severe weather events on radio, online and on social media for 13 Florida Public Media stations. It’s available on WUSF 89.7 FM, online at WUSFNews.org and through the free Florida Storms app, which provides geotargeted live forecasts, information about evacuation routes and shelters, and live local radio streams.

Clearing conditions across the Tampa Bay area as Ian treks east through Florida

Future rainfall chart for Ian
Florida Public Radio Emergency Network

After some parts of the region received a foot of rain, skies will gradually clear as Ian moves off Florida's east coast tonight.

Hurricane Ian weakened into a tropical depression early Thursday morning as it moves northeast across Florida, but not before causing widespread damage and dumping flooding rains across much of the southwestern part of the state.

After topping out as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds approaching 155 mph, Ian is now a tropical storm located around 40 miles southeast of Orlando and 35 miles southwest of Cape Canaveral.

Maximum sustained winds have fallen to 65 mph, with higher gusts, as Ian continues moving to the northeast at 8 mph.

Hurricane warnings that were in place in the Tampa Bay area and along Florida's east and west coasts are now tropical storm warnings.

The region is also no longer under a storm surge watch as forecasters with the National Hurricane Center now say seas from the Anclote River to Longboat Key should only rise 1-3 feet at high tide.

Megan Borowski, meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, says more than a foot of rain has fallen along and south of the I-4 corridor, but conditions will gradually clear throughout the day as Ian lifts off Florida's east coast around or after sunset.

I wasn't always a morning person. After spending years as a nighttime sports copy editor and page designer, I made the move to digital editing in 2000. Turns out, it was one of the best moves I've ever made.
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