At 1100 PM EDT (0300 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located
near latitude 21.3 North, longitude 72.4 West. 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).
Governor Scott orders ALL schools, state colleges, universities and offices to close Friday.