Will Hurricane Irma Hit North Carolina?

CHARLOTTE, NC — The wrath of Hurricane Irma ramped up to Category 5 strength Tuesday morning, producing winds of 175 miles per hour as the storm barreled across the Atlantic toward the Leeward Islands, according to the National Weather Service.

The current trajectory of the storm “looks increasingly possible” that Irma could impact the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia, the NWS said Aug. 5. The weather service stopped short of making projections, saying that while the storm is expected to shift north toward mainland U.S. early next week, the details remain uncertain, and there is low confidence about when and where that will occur.

The possibility of any impact prompted North Carolina Emergency Management to advise North Carolinians to start making a plan and put together an emergency supply list.

Watch: Hurricane Irma Pummels The Caribbean; Florida Could Be Next

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center issued a stark warning to interests in the Caribbean Sea Tuesday morning as Hurricane Irma moved into the region packing maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. Officially upgraded to a powerful Category 5 storm, Irma is on a collision course with Puerto Rico and other islands in the region. The storm also poses a threat to Cuba and the entire Florida Peninsula, forecasters say.

“Preparations should be rushed to completion in the hurricane warning area,” the center’s forecasters wrote in Tuesday’s 8 a.m. update on the storm. As of 8 a.m. Sept. 5, Irma was located about 270 miles east of Antigua. She was moving west at 14 mph.

Forecasters say hurricane warnings have gone up for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, Monterrat, St. Kitts, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and other nearby islands.

A hurricane watch has been issued for Guadeloupe and the Dominican Republic, among other interests in the region. Hurricane warnings mean that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area within 36 hours. Watches mean conditions are possible.

As of Tuesday morning, hurricane-force winds extended out from Irma by 45 miles from the center. Tropical storm-force winds were extending outward by 140 miles.

Hurricane Irma is expected to follow a path that will bring it toward the northern Cuban coastline as a major storm by Friday. If the course holds steady, she may pose a threat to Florida.

While it’s still too early to tell what, if any, impact Irma might have on Florida or the United States, forecasters say she bears close monitoring. Irma is expected to remain a major hurricane through the week. The threat Irma poses to Florida prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency on Monday. The declaration includes all 67 counties within the Sunshine State.

Irma formed during the peak of the 2017 hurricane season. Forecasters call the period between mid-August and mid-October the “season within the season.” This eight-week period “is often the most active and dangerous time for tropical cyclone activity,” according to NOAA.

The peak period is historically responsible for major spikes in tropical weather activity, NOAA said. In fact, it accounts for roughly 78 percent of all tropical storm days on record. It is also the period when 87 percent of the category 1 and 2 hurricane days on record occurred. In addition, this period is responsible for “a whopping 96 percent of the major (category 3, 4 and 5) hurricane days.”

The conditions gradually become less ripe for development in mid-October when increased wind shear tends to reappear and water and air temperatures cool.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year. Average seasons produce about 12 named storms, of which six become hurricanes. Three of the hurricanes are generally deemed major.

Residents readying for the ongoing season can get tips and advice on the federal government’s Ready.gov website.

Patch Editor Sherri Lonon contributed to this article.

Graphics courtesy of the National Hurricane Center

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