Hurricane Irma: Strongest Tropical System to Form in the Atlantic Basin in 10 years

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – As of 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, Hurricane Irma was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. Irma is the strongest hurricane to form in the Atlantic Basin in 10 years. The last Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic was Hurricane Felix which made landfall in Central America back in 2007.

Hurricane warnings extend from the Leeward Islands, to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. These areas will experience the extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane including life-threatening wind, storm surge and rainfall. A hurricane watch is now in effect for the Dominican Republic. Irma continues moving west at about 14 mph.

When it comes to tracking the tropics, spaghetti plots are used to show different model outputs of the potential track. This output gives you an idea (to a certain extent) of where the tropical system may go. However, the plots also show you where there is a lot of uncertainty. The models mostly agree that Irma will continue moving westward, but its location several days out differs.

Instead of focusing on the different model outputs, there is more concern with the path of the storm over a wider area. Therefore, meteorologists focus on the forecasting cone outlined by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). It is still too early to tell where exactly the tropical system will go days from now, but the NHC notes “there is a growing chance that Irma could affect the Florida Keys and Florida Peninsula late this week into the weekend.” People who live along the Florida coastline should start preparing and have their hurricane plan in place.

Stay with 41NBC and the 41First Alert Storm Team for the latest updates regarding this evolving tropical situation.