Irma made its first landfall on Barbuda early on September 6 at peak intensity. The system reached Category 5 intensity on the following day and peaked with winds of 180 mph (285 km/h) shortly thereafter. Irma resumed deepening upon encountering warmer sea surface temperatures, while approaching the Lesser Antilles on September 4. However, dry air and eyewall replacement cycles disrupted further strengthening, with fluctuations in intensity during the next few days. Favorable conditions allowed the cyclone to become a hurricane on the following day and then rapidly intensify into a major hurricane by September 1 as it moved generally westward across the Atlantic.

Classified as the ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Irma developed from a tropical wave near the Cape Verde Islands on August 30.

Lasting from late August to mid-September 2017, the storm was the strongest open-Atlantic tropical cyclone on record and the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands. ET Tuesday to launch dropwindsondes - parachute-equipped sensors that measure temperature, humidity and wind as they fall through storms from high altitudes.Īlso being used is a Lockheed WP-3D Orion plane, which captured images from within the eye of Irma, complete with huge walls of clouds that create a 'stadium effect.Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused extensive damage in the Caribbean and Florida. The hurricane hunter aircraft that are helping to measure Irma's growth and likely path include NOAA's Gulfstream IV jet, which took off from Barbados around 1:30 p.m. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.' Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. 'A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Here's how the hurricane center describes the damage that could result from a Category 5 hurricane: dlUta2IbDL- NOAA Aircraft Operations Center September 5, 2017 This is referred to as the 'stadium effect' Credit CDR Kibbey/NOAA. Inside the eye of #Irma on WP-3D Orion #NOAA42. Jose is predicted to follow the same general path as Irma - but with a slightly more northern approach in the forecast maps released by the hurricane center Tuesday morning.Ĭiting the expected effects of Irma, the NHC predicts Jose will build intensity for the next three days before hitting a plateau of around 105 mph on days four and five.Īs Irma's track has become more defined, the governors of Florida and Puerto Rico declared pre-emptive states of emergency.

0pwHOzzA8U- National Hurricane Center September 5, 2017Ī hurricane watch has been declared in a number of areas, including Guadeloupe, Dominica, the Dominican Republic from south of Cabo Engano westward to the southern border with Haiti, the Turks and Caicos and the northern coast of Haiti.Ĭategory 5 status means 'catastrophic' damage will occur on lands touched by the hurricane, which is currently predicted to remain a major hurricane as it makes its way west toward the U.S. Residents in the Leeward Islands should monitor the track. #Jose has formed in the tropical Atlantic.

Irma hurricane track noaa