MIAMI (AP/WFLA) – The National Hurricane Center says data from an air force aircraft indicates that Hermine has strengthened to a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds increasing to near 75 mph.

Hermine’s upgrade from tropical storm makes it the fourth hurricane of 2016 in the Atlantic basin.

The storm is becoming better organized and is continuing to strengthen as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico. Hermine is forecast to make landfall between midnight and 2 a.m. near the Big Bend region of Florida

The last hurricane to strike Florida was Hurricane Wilma, which entered the state from along southwest Gulf Coast as a major Category 3 storm on Oct. 24, 2005. It swept across the Everglades and struck highly-populated south Florida, causing 5 deaths in the state and an estimated $23 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.