Supermoon to Collide With Hurricane Idalia for Deadly Flooding

Tropical Storm Idalia's foreboding forecast will bring storm surge to Florida's Gulf Coast, and one astrological phenomenon could exacerbate the life-threatening issue.

As of Monday afternoon, the storm was off the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, according to a National Hurricane Center (NHC) advisory. The center of the storm is expected to pass over Cuba on Monday night. Forecasts predict that Idalia will develop into a hurricane later Monday and begin barreling toward Florida's Gulf Coast. Forecasts show Idalia reaching the coast on Wednesday morning with hurricane-force winds.

Meteorologists are forecasting a storm surge of 10 feet in Tampa Bay with life-threatening impacts. A supermoon will occur Wednesday night, adding up to a foot to high tide levels in the Florida area.

A supermoon occurs when the moon's orbit is closest to Earth at the same time there is a full moon, according to NASA.

High tides will occur in the early morning hours of Wednesday and again on Wednesday afternoon, WFLA-TV meteorologist Jeff Berardelli warned on X, formerly Twitter.

"Keep this handy if you live near the water in the Tampa Bay Area," Berardelli posted on social media with an image showing the high tide times for some Florida cities. "High tides for some of our cities. Because there is a super moon Wednesday, tides will already be up to foot above normal levels."

Tropical Storm Idalia is anticipated to make landfall in Florida Wednesday morning, and storm surge could reach up to 15 feet in some areas east of the storm's landfall such as in Cedar Key.

The Tampa Bay region also is anticipated to receive a life-threatening storm surge of 6 to 10 feet. Storm surge is the massive amounts of ocean water that comes ashore during a hurricane. It is more deadly than wind or normal flooding from rainfall. There is a storm surge warning for Englewood northward to the Ochlockonee River, including Tampa Bay, according to the most recent National Hurricane Center (NHC) advisory.

"Surge is a special threat that sometimes not as many people have seen it," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter told Newsweek. "We have all seen rain and wind and kind of have a sense of how bad that can be. Surge on average not as many people have seen and how quickly that water level can come up. It tends to catch people who are unprepared off guard."

Porter added that the storm surge includes the water level increase along the coast and into the tidal rivers and inlets, but waves crashing on top of that water level increase can further intensify the damage.

"That type of increase can devastate any structures in [the water's] path," Porter said. "Which is why surge is such a big concern with a storm like this."

Porter told Newsweek that AccuWeather forecasts Idalia to land as a Category 3 hurricane, but he could not rule out landfall as a Category 4 or higher.

"There is high potential for the storm to gain wind intensity very quickly in very warm water," Porter said. "As we head through Tuesday, this storm can really take off and become quite a monster."