US Interests Beware: Irma Is Coming

by Michael John Scott

As Texas still deals with the devastation from Harvey, another weather system churning in the Atlantic, and moving west toward the US, has some worried.

Irma, a huge Category 3 hurricane experienced “rapid intensification” from Wednesday into Thursday CNN reports. A National Hurricane Center alert issued early Friday pegs maximum sustained winds at 115mph, with higher gusts.

The storm is expected to approach the Caribbean by Tuesday or so as a monster Category 4 storm, then possibly the US—though meteorological models with wildly different scenarios show it’s too early to make any definitive predictions on where the storm will land.

Irma is a “Cape Verde” hurricane, meaning one that forms off the coast of Africa then drives across the Atlantic. What’s strengthening Irma is extremely warm water, and a  lack of wind shear, which often acts to ‘shear’ off the tops of hurricanes, slowing down, and sometimes killing them.

Irma is being pushed westward by a powerful high-pressure ridge which is limiting said shear. One of the models shows Irma heading straight into the Gulf of Mexico, which could be very bad news for areas still struggling after Harvey.

“All interests in the eastern Caribbean will need to monitor the progress of this evolving and dangerous hurricane,” an AccuWeather hurricane expert notes, stressing he can’t say “with certainty” at this early date how the US will be affected.