At 200 AM EDT (0600 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located near
latitude 21.5 North, longitude 73.3 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 this morning. The core of the hurricane will then move
between the north coast of Cuba and the Bahamas during the next day
or two.
Reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate
that maximum sustained winds are now near 160 mph (260 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).
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for...
* Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita
Beach
* Florida Keys
A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for...
* North of Jupiter Inlet to Sebastian Inlet
* North of Bonita Beach to Venice
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...
* Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita
Beach
* Florida Keys
* Lake Okeechobee
* Florida Bay
* Haiti from the northern border with the Dominican Republic to Le
Mole St. Nicholas
* Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
* Cuban provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, and
Villa Clara
* Central Bahamas
* Northwestern Bahamas
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* North of Jupiter Inlet to Sebastian Inlet
* North of Bonita Beach to Anna Maria Island
* Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas and Matanzas.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* Haiti from south of Le Mole St. Nicholas to Port-Au-Prince
* Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas