severe weather

County leaders prepare to spend millions of dollars to cover repairs.

The storm hit Panama City early Tuesday morning.

Severe storms that included tornadoes caused damage Tuesday in Northwest Florida and knocked out power to more than 87,000 customers in the state as of mid-day.

Severe storms and possible tornadoes are in the forecast tonight and tomorrow.

With heat waves, fires, and storms becoming more frequent and intense, small businesses increasingly see extreme weather as their next long-term challenge.

More than half a million utility customers lost power during the storm, which crashed ashore around 7:45 a.m. EST Wednesday in Taylor County’s Keaton Beach area.

After a record hot summer, warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico fueled the intensity of Hurricane Idalia. It briefly reached Category 4 just before landfall.

“You really got to go back to the late 1800s to find a storm of this magnitude that will enter (the state) where this one looks like it’s going to enter tomorrow,” Gov. DeSantis said Tuesday evening.

Very warm sea surface temperatures are expected to override the impacts of a developing El Niño.

An unusual pattern for mid-June promises to bring several rounds of strong and severe thunderstorms to the Panhandle and North Florida through week's end.