Tropical Storm Milton will likely become a major hurricane within three days as it targets Florida’s already storm-ravaged west coast, federal forecasters said Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center said in a forecast discussion that the storm was rapidly evolving into “an intense hurricane with multiple life-threatening hazards” for the coastline north and south of the Tampa Bay region.

The center’s forecasters said Sunday evening that Milton would likely reach hurricane status — defined by sustained winds of 75 mph, followed by major hurricane status — a Category 3 defined by sustained winds of at least 110 mph — in less than 72 hours.

As of 2 a.m. ET on Sunday, Milton was 365 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 855 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It pushed maximum sustained winds an estimated 28 miles per hour, with some higher gusts, the hurricane center said. It was moving north-northeast at a speed of 6 km/h, it said.

The storm is “moving slowly but is expected to strengthen quickly,” the hurricane center said in all caps in its latest update. “The risk of life-threatening consequences is increasing for parts of the west coast of Florida.”

A tropical storm watch was in effect for the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Celestun to Cancun.

On Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis preemptively declared a state of emergency for 35 counties, including the Pinellas County Peninsula in Tampa Bay, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene.

The governor’s statement cited possible “life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts” for the state’s west coast beginning as early as Tuesday evening and continuing into Wednesday.

Milton’s explosive growth from tropical depression to tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico in a few hours presents the storm as yet another potential disaster for the Southeast.

It comes less than ten seconds after Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on September 26 and headed towards Tennessee and North Carolina, causing devastating flooding.

In Florida, Helene created waves on September 26, pushing the Gulf of Mexico 8 feet (2.5 meters) into otherwise dry land lined with homes, condos, mobile homes, restaurants, bars and shops, killing 12 people in Pinellas County and 25 more the entire state. At least 230 people in six states died as a result of the storm.

Storm’s path is rare

Milton is fueled by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, where a buoy tracked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration near the storm’s expected path Saturday evening recorded a water temperature of nearly 86 degrees, 2 degrees warmer than the air. The storm is already known for its rare features during a busy Atlantic hurricane season.

It will be the fifth hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. mainland in 2024, tying the most hurricanes ever to make landfall in 2004, 2005 and 1893.

And it’s a rare product of its development in the Bay of Campeche, a sheltered southern spot in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Yucatán Peninsula. Since 1850, only two storms originating there have hit Florida; no one has done it in the last 155 years, and the last person to walk that path was recorded in 1867.

Milton is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which now has the most such storms recorded between September 24 and October 5, according to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University.

The last time three named storms (including Kirk and Leslie) swirled in the Atlantic Ocean in October was in 2018, he said.

Heavy rain possible ahead of storm

Hurricane and storm surge watches will likely be needed Sunday for certain regions of Florida, many of which were just hit hard by Helene.

According to the latest forecast cone from the Hurricane Center, Milton will reach major hurricane status early Monday morning and hit the Pinellas County coastline Wednesday evening.

The cone has some uncertainty built into it, with previous forecasts averaging 150 miles (240 kilometers) when projecting a storm’s behavior four days before landfall, the hurricane center said.

“Regardless of where the track goes, it will produce heavy rain,” Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a video update on Saturday.

Residents are urged to prepare

The hurricane center said areas of heavy rain will hit parts of the state on Sunday and Monday well before the arrival of the tropical system, increasing the risk of flooding.

Rain from the storm’s outer bands could begin off Florida’s west coast on Sunday, federal forecasters said, with heavier rain likely Tuesday and Wednesday. Two to eight inches of rain, with up to a foot in some areas, are expected across portions of the Florida Peninsula and parts of the Florida Keys through Wednesday night, bringing the possibility of flash flooding and up to moderate river flooding.

The system could also produce rainfall of two to four inches in parts of the northern Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba.

The hurricane center is warning those in these areas, as well as the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, to keep a close eye on this system for any impacts.

Residents of the Tampa Bay region and beyond should prepare, the National Hurricane Center said in its forecast discussion.

“Residents in these areas should make sure they have their hurricane plan ready, follow any advice from local officials and check back for forecast updates,” the report said.

Pinellas County does provide sandbags to its residents. The National Weather Service placed the region in the potential path of Tropical Storm Milton, although it is too early to say what impact the storm will have on the county.

Rhome, of the hurricane center, said residents of the state’s west coast should make sure they have several days’ worth of food and water on hand, vehicles are refilled with fuel and cellphones are charged. They should also have necessary prescription medications for a week or two, and enough cash on hand in case credit, debit and digital payment systems go down.