At 200 AM EDT (0600 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located near
latitude 23.7 North, longitude 81.3 West. Irma is moving slowly
northwestward toward the lower Florida Keys at near 6 mph (9 km/h).
A turn toward the north-northwest with an increase in forward speed
is expected through late Monday. On the forecast track, the center
of Irma is expected to cross the Lower Florida Keys during the next
several hours, and then move near or along the west coast of Florida
this afternoon through Monday morning. Irma should then move inland
over the Florida panhandle and southwestern Georgia Monday
afternoon.
Reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft
indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 130 mph
(210 km/h) with higher gusts. Irma is now a category 4 hurricane on
the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Irma is forecast to
restrengthen a little more while it moves through the Straits of
Florida and remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches the Florida
Keys and the west coast of Florida.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from
the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205
miles (335 km). A private anemometer at Marathon Key, Florida,
recently reported a wind gust of 88 mph (141 km/h).
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for...
* South Santee River southward to Jupiter Inlet
* North Miami Beach southward around the Florida peninsula to the
Ochlockonee River
* Florida Keys
* Tampa Bay
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...
* Fernandina Beach southward around the Florida peninsula to Indian
Pass
* Florida Keys
* Lake Okeechobee
* Florida Bay
* Cuban provinces of Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara,
Matanzas, and La Habana
* Andros Island, Bimini, and Grand Bahama
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* North of Fernandina Beach to Edisto Beach
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* West of Indian Pass to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line
* North of Fernandina Beach to South Santee River