Denis Phillips Talks About Hurricane Milton’s Arrival

ABC Action News Chief Meteorologist Denis Phillips joined us this morning on Q105 to give his thoughts as we prepare for Hurricane Milton's arrival tonight in Tampa Bay. Conditions will worsen as the day goes on today. Here were some of Denis' key thoughts and observations on Hurricane Milton's plans for Tampa Bay.

If you missed the conversation with Denis, here is the the replay.

The unknown is how those "wobbles" will bring the track north or south. Last night, models pushed the storm's landfall to the south. Readings this morning, however, moved the path back to the north a bit.

Winds are down to 155MPH... Denis said it's crazy to even say "winds are DOWN to 155" or a storm is "weakening to a Cat 3 or 4." Denis thinks the weakening will continue until landfall, but there will still be major effects felt all over Tampa Bay.

As for the track, Denis says watch for the wobbles. Spaghetti models won't show that. His best guess is northern or central Manatee County will be where Hurricane Milton will make landfall if there are no wobbles. But wobbles usually happen to the right. That would mean the heaviest surge would be from Sarasota down to Fort Myers. But it's a wait and see now. Watch for updates in the Q105 Storm Center all day today.

Denis gave some great insight on how the surge levels are posted. The big variable is where the eye of the storm makes landfall. But when you see those surge warnings, know that they try to give you the worst case scenario. For those in the Tampa area, for now the news is good in terms of surge. But if the storm moves north, that could change. That's why those surge level warnings seem so dire. They want people to be prepared for the worst.

While our coastal residents were the ones who felt the impact of Helene, inland residents from Polk County to Orlando and beyond will feel hurricane force winds. When the storm exits the state of Florida tomorrow, it's still expected to be a Category 1 strength hurricane.

ABC Action News weather guru Denis Phillips recently shared a few dozen tips to get you through a hurricane. We've been really lucky so far this hurricane season in Florida, but we know our time will come. When it does, preparation is key. And Denis came up with some tips that might make your experience a lot less miserable. Here are 10 of my favorites. Some are common sense. But others are pretty creative ideas to get through the storm with less stress.

Denis points out that without air conditioning, anything dirty will start to stink your place up! And when the AC goes out, you'll want clean sheets because you'll be sweating a lot!

When you know the storm's coming charge up those laptops, and OLD phones... not just the one you use now. Old phones call still call 911!

Use that water to flush toilets.

Freeze cooked food too. Denis says he loves a hardboiled egg as a snack on that first day without power.

Stuff all your important stuff in a backpack so it's easy to grab in case you need to leave quickly.

If power goes out for a while or systems go down, it'll be good to have some cash on hand.

This is certainly one I wouldn't have thought of doing... but it makes sense. Higher temps in the room will lower the temp in your fridge to preserve those foods longer.

Hit the shower just before the storm's about to hit.

Unplug your electronics because there will likely be power surges.

If the coin stayed on top after the power went out, your food stayed frozen!

I know if you have water to flush your toilet with, you're good, however, not every toilet will flush, even with water, and you might need an additional toilet, especially if you have others staying with you, so the best home made port-o-potty I've ever seen is really easy. Take a bucket, like a Home Depot or Lowes type bucket🪣, fill it with a garbage bag and about 1/4 to 1/2 full with kitty litter. Then take a pool koozy and slice it down one side, half way through. Place the koozy around the top of the bucket and cut it to fit the top of the bucket just right. Put a roll of toilet paper on the handle of the bucket and wha-lah, you've got a relatively comfortable, durable port-o-potty. When it gets full, pull out the garbage bag and replace it with another and fill it about 1/4 to 1/2 with litter and you're all set.