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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Nearly six months after Hurricane Milton devastated the Tampa Bay area, the storm is now officially considered one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Milton’s pressure is estimated to have dipped as low as 895 mb and its winds reached 178 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its final storm report released Monday.

This ties Milton with Hurricane Rita (2005) for the fourth-lowest minimum central pressure in an Atlantic hurricane, though the NHC noted that because Milton reached peak intensity between Hurricane Hunters’ aircraft missions, its estimate is more uncertain than usual.

Milton weakened from a monster Category 5 hurricane but remained a major storm as it approached Florida’s Gulf Coast. Its intensity at landfall is also somewhat uncertain, according to the NHC.

The storm made landfall on Siesta Key with estimated maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane.

The maximum sustained winds reported in Florida were around 90 mph, with a gust of 107 mph, at a University of Florida tower in Venice Beach, which was located south of where the NHC estimated the strongest winds came ashore.

“If these major hurricane winds occurred along the coast, they were likely confined to a small area near Sarasota and Siesta Key,” the NHC said in its report.

Lingering damage from Hurricane Helene, which impacted the area just two weeks earlier, meant survey crews had a bit of a challenge determining Milton’s storm surge levels. Storm surge inundation of 6 to 9 feet above ground level was observed from Venice south to Boca Grande.

Aerial footage from WFLA’s news chopper, Eagle 8 HD, documented widespread damage on Manasota Key. The storm surge reached as high as 10 feet there, not accounting for the height of the cresting waves.

While locations south of Milton’s landfall were inundated by storm surge, communities to the north experienced intense rainfall and flooding. The maximum reported total rainfall was over 20 inches at a site near St. Petersburg.

The NHC report also detailed the tornado outbreak spun up by the hurricane in parts of southeast and southwest Florida. It included 45 known tornadoes on land and a tornadic
waterspout over Lake Okeechobee.

Milton produced three EF-3 tornadoes, six EF-2 tornadoes, 25 EF-1 tornadoes, seven EF-0
tornadoes, and four tornadoes of unknown intensity. 14 people were injured in the tornado outbreak.

The NHC said the outbreak was unusually intense for a tropical cyclone, noting that Milton was the first storm to produce more than one EF-3 tornado since the Storm Prediction Center began tracking tornadoes associated with tropical systems in 1995.

Milton is believed to be responsible for 15 direct deaths, including six people who died in an EF-3 tornado near Fort Pierce and Vero Beach. Four people were killed by falling trees and there were two deaths due to freshwater flooding.

The storm caused 27 indirect deaths in the U.S., all of which occurred in Florida.