Hurricane Idalia slammed into the area of Big Bend, Fla., early Wednesday morning as a Category 3 storm, bringing high winds, extreme storm surge and tornadoes to cities along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
But what was more surprising is that it took just over 24 hours for it to strengthen from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 4, before it finally lost some steam as it ran into the Florida Panhandle.
7:45 AM EDT update: Extremely dangerous Category 3 Hurricane <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Idalia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Idalia</a> makes landfall in the Florida Big Bend. Maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 125 mph.
