Posted on 09/09/2017 7:12:07 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, hit Cuba overnight as a rare Category 5 storm, then shifted course toward the west coast of Florida.
The monster storm's shift in direction creates a "very, very dangerous situation for western Florida," said ABC News meteorologist Daniel Manzo.
As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, Irma was a Category 4 with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. It was about 225 miles from Miami, moving west-northwest at 12 mph.
Naples, Fort Myers and other communities on Florida's west coast could get slammed when Irma makes landfall as a Category 4 storm, which is expected to happen between early Sunday and early Monday. Landfall could occur as far north as Tampa.
The wind gusts in Florida were already picking up early Saturday, with Miami International Airport reporting a 59 mph gust.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
The models _are_ in agreement—and they keep moving the “turning point” further and further west.
Another twelve hours of this “model westward creep” and hurricane force winds are a “miss” for all of the southern part of the peninsula (except for Key West, of course).
Thanks. We were going to stay with seekthetruth but the cone shifted to her side of the state so we are sheltering in place (She has a safe place to go to). The cone for the eye has been shifted to west of Orlando. We will still see very strong winds (Cat 1), a lot of rain and always the possibility of tornadoes tomorrow and Monday. Will likely lose power for a few days.
:-)
If she doesn’t turn then people won’t evacuate next time.
;-)
Prayers Up for you and yours!
Still stuck on the north coast of cuba an hour ago
Irma has been downgraded to a Cat 3 hurricane and is still a dangerous threat. Let’s hope that she continues to lose strength as she approaches landfall.
Hey, Thanks! I’ve been using that site, too - didn’t realize I could zoom in that close...
If it gets back into the gulf it will get stronger. It appears their hurricane models are as good as their global climate models. This hurricane is not turning and does not appear to want to turn. Where it goes is still TBD. Again if it continues west it will gain strength.
Good map. Thank you.
Monroe County starts in middle of the Everglades west towards the Gulf of Mexico. What county are the Keys? They begin south of Miami, but have no bridge, no connection at all to the west other than boat - which doesn’t seem practical for county administration back in the 1800’s. But it also seems that the 3-4 day trip up from Key West to Miami makes them too far away for them to be in the Miami county government.
” Maybe they mean to say that their models have it eventually turning north toward the west coast of Florida, but irma is still in florida and still on its northern coast.”
Maybe you meant something different?
I like the ability to see EVERYWHERE at once. You see not just the one storm, but all the storms.
Another useful tool is this one...
Yep. Caught that extra florida after I’d posted it. I blame it on decaf instead of the real thing. Haha
If only the US had issued great big checks to the UN, none of this would be happening.
And destroy Rush's house. They are fervently praying to Obama to divert the hurricane to Limbaugh's home. Surely, the Sainted Exalted One will allow them this chance to gloat.
That's almost impossibly cool.
This hurricane is still very much up in the air. It appears the east coast of Florida might be spared the worst and that this will more adversely impact Florida's west coast. I was in Marco Island a few months ago - Tiger Tail Beach area - one of my favorite places in the world, and I'm glad I took a bunch of photos back then. Because it might not look the same ever again. Hurricane Wilma hit them pretty hard back in 2005 but this looks to be a lot worse.
Like... whether or not Cuba exists ?
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