NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Hurricane Milton continues to move offshore Thursday morning as a category 1 storm east of the Florida peninsula. Conditions will continue to improve across the state through the day. As expected the storm was highly sheared at landfall which created a weaker system but a larger system with wide ranging impacts. Tornadoes were much stronger than we typically see with landfalling tropical systems in the southeastern part of the state. Surge of 5-7 feet moved in south of the center on the western side of the state. Wind gusts were generally in the 80-90 range but there were some higher gusts measured. The strongest part of the storm ended up being in areas northwest of the center around Tampa and St. Petersburg. Locally heavy rain amounts of 20 inches or higher fell within a band of strong wind and rain. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Where Y'at This Weekend: Zombie Paintball, Abita Fall Fest, Oktoberfest, Crescent City Blues & BBQ Fest Man arrested following Seabrook-area standoff Harris accepts invite to CNN town hall as another Trump debate appears unlikely Bush man sentenced in sexual assault case involving young girls How to help the recovery from Milton, Helene