Hurricane Ian weakened into a tropical depression early Thursday morning as it moves northeast across Florida, but not before causing widespread damage and dumping flooding rains across much of the southwestern part of the state.
After topping out as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds approaching 155 mph, Ian is now a tropical storm located around 40 miles southeast of Orlando and 35 miles southwest of Cape Canaveral.
Here's the 5 a.m. #HurricaneIan update from @FloridaStorms: pic.twitter.com/2WN8QFtwzX
— WUSF (@wusf) September 29, 2022
Maximum sustained winds have fallen to 65 mph, with higher gusts, as Ian continues moving to the northeast at 8 mph.
Hurricane warnings that were in place in the Tampa Bay area and along Florida's east and west coasts are now tropical storm warnings.
The region is also no longer under a storm surge watch as forecasters with the National Hurricane Center now say seas from the Anclote River to Longboat Key should only rise 1-3 feet at high tide.
Megan Borowski, meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, says more than a foot of rain has fallen along and south of the I-4 corridor, but conditions will gradually clear throughout the day as Ian lifts off Florida's east coast around or after sunset.
