Hurricane Idalia is now traveling at wind speeds > 80 mph and forward speed at 14 mph. This makes it a Category 1 hurricane. It’s expected to reach a Category 2 and perhaps 3 before making landfall.
Current models project the storm to pass east of the Panama City Beach area, but we do expect winds and rain.
The winds are expected to begin Tuesday evening (today) and increase to about 30-40 mph as the storm passes to the east of us.
Please remember that these storms can and do change direction and speed, so we will continue to monitor it as it moves past us.
This final diagram shows a closer image of the cone projections. You can see Panama City Beach to the West.