Hurricane Milton, a powerful and expanding storm that has fluctuated between a Category 4 and 5 as it churns in the Gulf of Mexico, is set to be a "historic storm for the west coast of Florida," according to the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay.

This year's warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico helped Hurricane Milton swiftly become a powerful hurricane, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center calling it the third-fastest intensifying Atlantic storm on record.

Hurricane Milton began its turn toward Florida on Tuesday rebounding back to Category 5 strength with a forecast landfall on the Gulf Coast south of Tampa Bay still as a major hurricane and the threat of 15-foot storm surge,