Close on the heels of Harvey, Hurricane Irma tore through the Caribbean on its way to Florida. After making landfall in the Florida Keys Sunday morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast the storm will continue into the southeast US.
The hurricane has weakened to a tropical storm, but is still a dangerous event that will bring record coastal flooding, high winds, and many inches of rain to Florida and then Georgia and the Carolinas.
This map below charts the course the storm has taken so far and shows NOAA’s National Hurricane Center’s best available forecast for where it’s heading. The map will update automatically when new forecasts are published.
But also know: Wind speed is just one factor that makes a hurricane dangerous. Much of South Florida is at risk for coastal flooding (which is usually the deadliest aspect of a hurricane). Five to 10 feet of storm surge is expected along the coast. Check out NOAA’s storm surge estimation tool to see where the risk is greatest.
How to follow Hurricane Irma:
- The National Hurricane Center has a page updating every few hours with the latest watches and warnings for Irma. Check it out.
- Follow the the Miami branch of the National Weather Service on Twitter and the Florida Keys branch too.
- Follow the Capital Weather Gang’s Twitter account. These folks tend to live-tweet storm updates.
- Here’s a Twitter list of weather experts via meteorologist Eric Holthaus. These experts will give you up-to-the second forecasts and warnings.
