Idalia strengthens into hurricane with 75 mph winds
Idalia strengthened from a tropical storm into a hurricane early Tuesday as maximum sustained winds reached 75 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
Idalia is "expected to rapidly intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane" before making landfall in Florida on Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said in its latest advisory. Winds are forecast to reach 120 mph by Tuesday night.
As of 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the eye of the storm was located about 85 miles north of the western tip of Cuba and about 370 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida. The storm was moving north at 14 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
A hurricane warning, which means hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area, remains in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio as well as parts of Florida, starting from the middle of Longboat Key northward to Indian Pass, including Tampa Bay. Other weather alerts were still in effect for more areas of Cuba and Florida, as well as Georgia and South Carolina.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo