Idalia Makes Landfall as Powerful CAT 3

news image
Top Stories
30 Aug 2023 3:00 PM

Idalia strengthened into a MAJOR CAT 4 Hurricane with sustained winds at 130 mph just ahead of landfall along the Big Bend of Florida Wednesday morning as a CAT 3 with sustained winds of 125mph. The impacts from this powerful storm are far from over, however, with damaging surge and winds still ongoing. The storm is moving extremely quickly, with forward speed around 20 mph, meaning today will be the worst of it before it pushes into the Carolinas tonight.

The terrain is extremely flat through this area which means the surge will move far inland. Even parts of Tampa Bay have already seen surge over 4' with peak surge on the order of 4-6' with higher numbers towards Pine Island.

Hurricane Warnings and Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for much of the Southeast. Winds will decrease through the day today for central and north Florida as Idalia rapidly moves north. Conditions will be tough in Georgia for the next few hours.

Heavy rain will be a threat on the west side of the cone of uncertainty with a swath of 5-7" of rainfall along and just west of I-95 through Georgia and Florida, and along I-75 too. We will see flood concerns in southern Georgia and the Carolinas Wednesday - Friday.

Flood alerts are in effect from the Florida Gulf Coast up into the Carolinas for the heavy rainfall threat, on the order of 4-6" and locally higher total. Freshwater flooding will cause issues all the way through Southern Georgia and Downstate South Carolina.

As is common with tropical systems too we have a severe weather threat. Our primary concern will be for tornadoes, which are usually short-lived spin-ups in tropical systems.

Stay with WeatherNation for the latest on this tropical system.

All Weather News
More
Elevated Fire Danger For Florida and the South

Elevated Fire Danger For Florida and the South

While temperatures will cool across the South

23 Feb 2026 3:15 AM
Blizzard - Nor'easter Takes Aim at the Atlantic Coast

Blizzard - Nor'easter Takes Aim at the Atlantic Coast

Storms have seemingly been drawn to the North

23 Feb 2026 3:10 AM
Next Pacific System Brings Flood Potential To Oregon & California

Next Pacific System Brings Flood Potential To Oregon & California

Inches of rain and feet of snow fell across t

23 Feb 2026 3:00 AM
Strong Storms Target the Southeast

Strong Storms Target the Southeast

A developing storm system is expected to brin

21 Feb 2026 7:55 PM
New England Snow & Ice Into Saturday

New England Snow & Ice Into Saturday

Snow has become more widespread across Upstat

21 Feb 2026 3:15 AM
Major Storm System Winds Down in California

Major Storm System Winds Down in California

CALIFORNIA - After almost a week of relentles

21 Feb 2026 3:10 AM
Wildfire Danger: Red Flag Warnings Persist Into Saturday

Wildfire Danger: Red Flag Warnings Persist Into Saturday

PLAINS - Multiple active fires broke out earl

21 Feb 2026 3:00 AM