National Hurricane Center Track Shows Irma Slamming Into South Florida, Traversing Center of State

By  //  September 8, 2017

Hurricane and Storm Surge Warnings Issued For South Florida and The Florida Keys

Hurricane Irma is centered at 11 p.m. EDT about 55 miles east-northeast of Great Inagua Island and about 585 miles east-southeast of Miami.

NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER – Hurricane Irma is centered at 11 p.m. EDT about 55 miles east-northeast of Great Inagua Island and about 585 miles east-southeast of Miami.

Irma is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue for the next day or two with a decrease in forward speed.

A turn toward the northwest is expected by late Saturday. On the forecast track, the eye of Irma should continue to move westward away from the Turks and Caicos Islands and toward the southeastern Bahamas overnight. The core of the hurricane will then move between the north coast of Cuba and the Bahamas during the next day or two.

Maximum sustained winds are near 165 mph (270 km/h) with higher gusts.

Irma is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 75 miles (120 km) from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 920 mb (27.17 inches).

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach and the Florida Keys. A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for North of Jupiter Inlet to Sebastian Inlet and for north of Bonita Beach to Venice.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach, including the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee, Florida Bay, Haiti from the northern border with the Dominican Republic to Le Mole St. Nicholas, the Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Cuban provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, and Villa Clara and the Central Bahamas and Northwestern Bahamas.

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Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for North of Jupiter Inlet to Sebastian Inlet, north of Bonita Beach to Anna Maria Island, and the Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas and Matanzas.

For storm information specific to your area in the United States, including possible inland watches and warnings, please monitor products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast office – www.weather.gov.

For storm information specific to your area outside the United States, please monitor products issued by your national meteorological service.

The next complete advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at 5 a.m. EDT with an intermediate advisory at 2 a.m. EDT- www.hurricanes.gov