Hurricane Ian, a powerful a Category 4 storm with winds just shy of Category 5 strength, will soon make landfall on Florida’s western coast. The hurricane’s eyewall is starting to move onshore now.

At 11 AM EDT, the eye of Hurricane Ian was located 45 miles West-Northwest of Naples, FL. Ian is moving toward the north-northeast at approximately 9 mph. This general motion with a reduction in forward speed is forecast today, followed by a turn toward the northeast on Thursday.

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 tonight 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.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 155 mph with higher gusts. Ian is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Ian is forecast to make landfall on the west coast of Florida as a catastrophic hurricane. Weakening is expected after landfall, but Ian could be near hurricane strength when it moves over the Florida East coast tomorrow, and when it approaches the northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts late Friday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles. A Weatherflow station on Sanibel Island recently reported sustained winds of 58 mph with a gust to 75 mph.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 937 mb (27.67 inches).

This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone.

The dot indicating the forecast center location will be black if the cyclone is forecast to be tropical and will be white with a black outline if the cyclone is forecast to be extratropical. If only an L is displayed, then the system is forecast to be a remnant low.

The letter inside the dot indicates the NHC’s forecast intensity for that time:

D: Tropical Depression – wind speed less than 39 MPH
S: Tropical Storm – wind speed between 39 MPH and 73 MPH
H: Hurricane – wind speed between 74 MPH and 110 MPH
M: Major Hurricane – wind speed greater than 110 MPH