Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida Wednesday afternoon, with some saying the impact of the storm expected to be “enormous.”
Sustained windspeeds at landfall reached 150 miles per hour, making it a Category 4 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Windspeeds of 150 mph are equal to a EF3 tornado, like the multiple that hit parts of the Miami Valley during the Memorial Day tornadoes in 2019.
The landfall windspeeds match 2020′s Hurricane Leah for the fifth spot of the top five strongest hurricanes at landfall in United States history.
>> Hurricane Ian: How you can help Florida residents affected by the storm
Ian’s eyewall is continuing to resupply itself, allowing the storm to remain its strength.
The eyewall is so large that for scale Montgomery County would fit entirely inside the wall of the eye, according to Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs.
The storm is bringing with it up to 16 inches of rain to areas of Florida such as Port Charlotte.
The storm system is expected to move central Florida with the potential of going back out to the Atlantic Ocean by the end of the week, Vrydaghs said.
There is a possibility the storm system will then curve northward bringing rain to the Miami Valley this weekend.
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