[Ed note: for up-to-date info, see also: NOAA National Hurricane Center, Mike's Weather Page, windy.com, NWS - Hourly Weather Forecast Graph - Tampa, and NWS - Hourly Weather Forecast Graph - Miami.]
At 8:28AM September 5, Zero Hedge reported
Irma is now the [strongest] hurricane [ever] in the Atlantic basin, outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, in [US National Hurricane Center] records.
[...] meteorologist Eric Holthaus writes that Hurricane Irma is now expected to *exceed* the theoretical maximum intensity for a storm in its environment, or as he puts it "Redefining the rules".
[...] Irma's current path--headed straight for Florida--has prompted the state to prepare for the "catastrophic" system.
Unlike Harvey, which caused widespread damage, power outages and flooding and taking almost a fifth of U.S. oil refining capacity offline, Irma is a bigger threat to agriculture, with orange juice futures surging.
[...] Florida is the world's largest producer of orange juice after Brazil. About two-thirds of the state's citrus crop is located in the lower two-thirds of the peninsula.
[...] Airlines have canceled flights across the Caribbean and are adding planes to evacuate tourists, while cruise-line stocks have tumbled.
[...] Only three Category 5 hurricanes have hit the contiguous 48 U.S. states, [said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Weather Underground:] The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 that devastated the Florida Keys, Hurricane Camille in 1969, and Hurricane Andrew that cut across Florida in 1992. Andrew was originally classified as a Category 4 storm only to be upgraded years later after further analysis.
"It is obviously a rare breed", Henson said. "We are in rare territory."
At 12:37PM September 5, Heavy.com reported
The Florida governor has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Irma reaches a Category 5 storm. The Florida Keys are currently in the hurricane's path, although the storm remains unpredictable.
[...] Irma has [...] maximum sustained winds [of] 185 mph. It was moving west at 14 mph and is about 270 miles east of Antigua. The Florida Keys are in the projected path of the hurricane, according to September 4 late evening forecasts.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 09 2017, @04:45AM (1 child)
Not according to the National Hurricane Center.
Once it gets through pounding on Cuba (winds currently 150 mph), it's projected to go directly for Miami.
Map of probability of getting hit by tropical storm force winds [noaa.gov]
(The entire peninsula is shaded Oh-Shit Brown.)
Map of areas under warning/watch [noaa.gov]
Includes the stormtrack since its beginning.
(The Keys and anything anywhere near the coast is colored Get-The-Fuck-Out Red.)
Both maps refresh every few hours.
...and there's a lot of open ocean (warm water) between Cuba and USA, so it could gain strength as it travels northward.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 09 2017, @07:43AM
You're obviously reading a different map than I am [noaa.gov]. It shows the center passing through the keys then up the west coast of Florida. Miami will see tropical storm force winds and lots of rain. Nothing extraordinary at all.