Lauren Petrelli

BABY ON THE WAY: Baby Cole is expected to arrive in mid-November! We announced this on social a few weeks ago, but we realized we never mentioned it on air. Thank you to my Fox 4 family for their love and for help in making this special announcement extra sweet. 📷

Multiple cars appear to be stuck on I-10 in the Florida panhandle as snow continues to fall

NHC Director Mike Brennan: Helene the most significant mainland U.S. hurricane hit since Katrina in 2005. In addition to catastrophic rainfall flooding, Helene caused more wind fatalities than any tropical system since at least 1963. Almost all due to trees. #AMS2025

Too true 😂

As we get into mid-October, the sun angle gets lower & solar heating of the Northern Hemisphere's oceans decreases. This is reflected by slowly cooling sea surface temps in the Gulf & middle Atlantic recently. Also, a cold front looks on track to clear Florida by Wednesday resulting in a period of gusty ocean breezes. These winds will also help extract heat from the waters increasing the rate of cooling. The takeaway is that hurricane fuel near the US is slowly decreasing, and the threat for additional major hurricanes (cat 3 or greater) hitting the US is decreasing with it.

Time-lapse of power outages as Milton arrived. Brighter the color the more number of people without electricity. As of 3:05 am the tally is up to 24.5% of the state's customers. Hats off to the power crews already at work to get the state back up.

As a mom, this one breaks my heart. Thank you to all of our first responders for rushing in when our communities need it most.

MAJOR STORM SURGE moving into Fort Myers Beach. This is at Margaritaville facing north towards Times Square. 📸 Beach Talk Radio #MILTON #flwx

Tornado on the ground crossed through I-75. 14 miles W of Sunrise. @wsvn #flwx

SWFL #MILTON THREATS: Storm surge will be the most concerning. Up to 10 feet of surge will inundate coastal areas. Wednesday night into Thursday AM is expected to be the worst. Provided landfall stays to our north near the Bay area, we can expect wind gusts in the Cat. 1 range.

UPDATE: Pressure down to 897 mb. Unreal. #Milton

#BREAKING: Milton has increased to 180 mph with pressure dropping to 905 mb as of the 5 PM update. #Milton is now the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico in nearly 20 years (Hurricane Rita - 2005). Hurricane Warning is now in effect locally for Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Desoto and Highlands counties. Storm Surge Warning in effect too. New surge forecast of 6 - 10 feet for Charlotte and Lee counties, 4 - 7 feet for Collier. The recent track nudged a little north. More adjustments, both north or south, will continue. Look for consistency. TAKE THIS STORM SERIOUSLY. If you're told to evacuate, do it. We still have a significant surge threat and I also can't rule out a direct hit if models trend south. Impacts WILL be felt outside of the cone. Stay alert and updated here with WINK. @WINKNews

@KatieWallsTV @carlsrel @TrentAricTV Aw thank you, guys. Unfortunately, I won’t be returning to Fox 4.

@carlsrel @LPetrelliTV @TrentAricTV We do too!

@LPetrelliTV are you ever coming back to fox4...I miss you @TrentAricTV @KatieWallsTV

Imagine setting up your camera on a tripod to take this photo… in 1884! This is one of the earliest photos of a tornado, taken by F.N. Robinson in the Dakota Territory (now South Dakota). Learn more at: noaa.gov/heritage/stori… #tornado #cyclone #history #WeatherHistory

The most amazing 4 minutes ever! I’m speechless…

Gorgeous! Thanks, Dale.

NHC has announced updates to our products and services for the 2024 hurricane season, including new Spanish text products, issuance of watches/warnings on intermediate advisories, and an experimental cone graphic depicting inland U.S. watches/warnings. nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NHC_New_Pr…

As of February 7, the tropical east Atlantic sea surface temperature is as warm as it would typically be on JUNE 7. The anomaly, averaged over the area shown on this map, is +1.26°C... with areas off the west coast of Africa exceeding +4°C.

Happy National Weatherperson's Day to all of our meteorologists here at @Fox4Now and around the country. What should I do to celebrate today?!?!

@WeatherWithLaur @GreatWhite85 @LaurenHopeWX @LoleskyWX @LaurenLinahan @WeatherLauren @laurenbrandwx I think we need a bat signal 😂

@GreatWhite85 @LaurenHopeWX Hey now!!! Weather Laurens are the best Laurens!!! Right, @LoleskyWX @LaurenLinahan @LaurenHopeWX @LPetrelliTV @WeatherLauren @laurenbrandwx ?! haha

@LaurenHopeWX there's too many Lauren's in Ft Myers @WeatherWithLaur

TRAFFIC ADVISORY: There is a large water main break at Cape Coral Parkway and SW 23rd Avenue, blocking eastbound traffic on the parkway. Please seek an alternative route if able.