Hurricane Irma continues to churn in the warm Atlantic as a powerful category 5 hurricane. Already causing catastrophic damage in St. Maartin and Barbuda earlier this week, killing ten people. Maximum sustained winds now currently clock in at 175mph and Irma is moving to the WNW at about 16mph and is forecast to continue on this path for the next couple of days. Today Irma sets her sights on Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas still as a category five hurricane later today, and then making it to the central Bahamas tomorrow according to the latest predictions from the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane force winds extend up to 60 miles from the hurricane.
According to hurricane expert Philip Klotzbach, Irma is the fourth longest Cat 5 hurricane at about 50 hours and is expected to beat the number three spot this evening. That would be beating Ivan who was a Cat 5 for 60 hours back in 2004.The latest models still show Miami, Fl very close to the eye of the hurricane's projected path, which could lead to catastrophic
damage. However, models continue to push the projected path farther and farther east, even going back to the Atlantic and making another landfall near Georgia or the Carolinas. Right now early Sunday would be when Irma would make landfall is south Florida. Hurricane watches are now in place for portions of south Florida and the Florida Keys, where storm surge could be anywhere from 5-10ft.
Rain totals look to be the highest right along the east coast and into the Atlantic. This is still a developing forecast, and the forecast path of this Hurricane can still change.
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