The unpredictability of mother nature is such that science still can’t tell you exactly which way a hurricane will go. Not even Kurt Eichenwald and his Magical Equational Predictatory Global Warming Contrapulation.
But we do have general ideas, and so far Irma is still bearing down on Florida and packing a serious wallop.
From the Orlando Sentinel:
As of 8 a.m. Saturday, Hurricane Irma packed maximum sustained winds of 155 mph and was moving west-northwest at 12 mph. Hurricane Irma was located 440 miles south-southeast of Orlando as of 8 a.m., Saturday. It was located about 10 miles northwest of Caibarien, Cuba and 225 miles south of Miami.
The storm’s track has shifted slightly west again, with possible landfall over Key West at as Category 4 storm, then up Florida’s west coast to possible landfall north of Fort Myers and toward the Tampa area at a Category 3 storm. The west shift has Brevard County out of the forecast cone — but all that means is the eye of the storm is not expected in Brevard. The county and the east coast can still expect strong hurricane winds, possible tornadoes and generally bad weather.
The bottom line is that is if you are anywhere in Florida, you have a helluva storm coming your way. And the landfallen remnants are going to cause high winds, lots of rain, and possibly downed power lines from Georgia northward, too.
Here’s more, including the devastation in Cuba:
Florida orders evacuation of 5.6 million people as #HurricaneIrma churns towards Florida, after lashing Cuba https://t.co/ZD7r4QYEq7 pic.twitter.com/QmwqDLcwIS
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 9, 2017
#BreakingNews via @cnn Cuba records 23-foot waves #HurricaneIrma https://t.co/nWUhbwLBWE pic.twitter.com/Ppd2SuJ28G
— Standing with Marco (@StandWithMarco_) September 9, 2017
dhs_jules: RT Fox35DerrolNail: BLOWING IN: Outer rain band from #HurricaneIrma whips into downtown Miami. Looking … pic.twitter.com/O61lz5LPPQ
— Lawrence County EM (@LawrenceCOEM) September 9, 2017
NEW: NOAA's #GOES16 shows #HurricaneIrma pounding #Cuba and located about 225 miles south of #Miami this morning, Sept. 9, 2017. pic.twitter.com/hiQOQbH7Hl
— NOAA Satellites PA (@NOAASatellitePA) September 9, 2017
She’s turned west, but she’s coming.