Hurricane Ian: Landfall Timeline, 154K Without Power, 155 MPH Winds

TAMPA, FL — With the outer eyewall of Hurricane Ian just 20 miles southwest of Sanibel Island, the now Category 4 hurricane could be one of the worst to hit Florida in a century, according to meteorologists with the National Hurricane Center.

Because of high winds caused by Hurricane Ian — which is just 1 mph away from reaching Category 5 status — the Florida Highway Patrol closed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Wednesday morning.

As of 9:40 a.m., power is out for 154,209 customers in Florida along the west coast, according to PowerOutage.US.

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

As of the 8 a.m. update Wednesday, Ian’s eye is expected to make landfall between Venice and Fort Myers, causing a storm surge of up to 16 feet, the NHC warned. NOAA reported the storm is intensifying, with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph.

The hurricane is projected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane sometime this afternoon in the Fort Myers region, according to forecasters.

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AccuWeather forecasters are continuing to hone in on exactly where Hurricane Ian will make landfall.

"There is the potential for Ian to hit as the strongest hurricane on record for the southwestern to west-central part of the Florida Gulf coast," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said, noting that the 155 mph winds are just 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane.

Meteorologists are drawing comparisons to some of the most notorious hurricanes to ever pummel the state.

“This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday. He stressed that people in Ian's path along the coast should get to the safest place possible and stay put.

“If you are in any of those counties, it is no longer possible to safely evacuate. It’s time to hunker down and prepare for the storm,” DeSantis said. “Do what you need to do to stay safe. If you are where that storm is approaching, you’re already in hazardous conditions. It’s going to get a lot worse very quickly. So please hunker down.”

Related:

• How To Prepare Your Home, Family For Tropical Storm Ian
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At 8 a.m., the hurricane hunter aircraft reported hurricane-force winds extending up to 40 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 175 miles.

Ian is moving toward the north-northeast at nearly 10 mph. This general motion with a reduction in forward speed is forecast Wednesday, followed by a turn toward the north on Thursday.

On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to move onshore within the hurricane warning area later this morning or early afternoon, where it is expected to weaken after making landfall.

The center of Ian will then move over central Florida tonight and Thursday morning, emerging over the western Atlantic by late Thursday.

South Florida is already feeling the effects of the hurricane's winds and rains with reports of large waves crashing onto beaches and piers, 49 to 54 mph winds and nearly 4 inches of rain dumped on the island in the last 12 hours as a heavy and nearly stationary rain band hovers over the southwest part of the state.

The NHC is predicting 2 feet of rain could fall in some areas, leading to historic flooding. There's a heavy and nearly stationary rain band over the southwest part of the state, dumping nearly 4 inches of rain in the last 12 hours.

"We are now forecasting a catastrophic storm surge of 12 to 16 feet from Englewood to Bonita Beach," said NHC forecaster Eric Blake.

Equally catastrophic will be the wind damage along the southwestern coast of Florida beginning in the next few hours where the core of Ian makes landfall, he said.

"Preparations to protect life and property should be urgently rushed to completion," he said.

Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding is expected across portions of central Florida with considerable flooding in southern Florida, northern Florida, southeastern Georgia and coastal South Carolina.

Residents living across Central Florida should expect widespread, prolonged record river flooding.

Heavy rainfall will spread across the Florida peninsula through Thursday and reach portions of the Southeast U.S. later this week and this weekend.

This increased tropical storm activity in the Atlantic comes after a relatively inactive August. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, and September through November are typically the most active months.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center predicted an active hurricane center earlier this year. Forecasters said the ongoing La Niña, in addition to above-average ocean temperatures, signals a 65 percent chance the 2022 hurricane season will be above normal.

They predicted 14 to 21 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, anywhere from six to 10 of the storms could become hurricanes, with winds of 74 mph or higher.

Forecasters predicted this year's season will spawn anywhere from three to six major hurricanes rated a category 3 or higher during the season's most active months — September to November.