Publication Date September 4, 2017 | Category 6 | Weather Underground

Threat Increasing for Cuba, Florida from Intensifying Irma

Antigua & Barbuda
Visible-wavelength satellite image of Hurricane Irma as of 15Z (11 am EDT) Monday, September 4, 2017. Photo: RAMMB / CIRA @ CSU
Visible-wavelength satellite image of Hurricane Irma as of 15Z (11 am EDT) Monday, September 4, 2017. Photo: RAMMB / CIRA @ CSU

Dangerous Hurricane Irma was intensifying as it approached the northern Lesser Antilles Islands on Monday morning, and island residents in the path of Irma need to rush preparations to completion as the storm heads west-southwest at 14 mph. Based on Hurricane Hunter measurements, NHC raised Irma's top sustained winds at 5:00 pm EDT [on September 4] to 130 mph, making it a Category 4 storm.

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 It is becoming more likely that Irma will move close enough to the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and/or Cuba for significant impacts. There is an increasing chance that Irma will strike the U.S. late in the weekend or early next week, quite possibly as a major hurricane. It is still too soon to predict the location or timing of any U.S. landfall with confidence.