With all eyes on Irma as she barreled through Turks and Caicos Islands, skimming past Cuba, she now sets her sights on the northern Bahamas and southern Florida. Now a Cat. 4 Major Hurricane with sustained winds at 150 mph or higher, she continues to be a beast of a storm.
Not only are we tracking Irma, we're also tracking another Cat. 4 Hurricane in the central Atlantic, and that is Jose. This is the first time on record that the Atlantic has seen two major hurricanes of that intensity at the same time. Jose is expected to continue his path westward toward the Leeward Islands this weekend, including the islands of Barbuda and Antigua, both of which saw the wrath of Irma just a few days ago.
After Jose skims the Leeward Islands, it turns northward and out to sea through Tuesday.
Back to Irma, the main threats will be wind and storm surges this weekend as Irma makes its final approach before making landfall in Florida. Most of Florida will see wind gusts in excess of 100 mph once Irma makes landfall. Storm surge could reach 7-12 feet along the immediate coastline of southwest and southeast Florida.
As for the weekend back here in New England, we'll see some fall-like weather with highs into the upper 60s both Saturday and Sunday, with overnight lows slipping into the upper 40s for some, near 50 for most. A few showers cannot be ruled out for Saturday afternoon, otherwise a gradual building of clouds similar to Friday's weather.
Sunday is much of the same, with a spot shower, but the weekend is not a washout by any means, just a taste of fall. We see a slight warm-up, highs into the mid to upper 70s to start the work week, under plenty of sunshine as high pressure dominates, bringing plentiful sunshine Monday, and a thin veil of clouds Tuesday. But as Irma continues her track after Florida into Georgia and the Carolinas, she'll weaken and we'll see some rain bands associated with Irma by midweek into southern New England by Wednesday.
You can stay tuned for the very latest updates on the air, online and on the go with our NBC Boston and necn apps. Meteorologist Chris Gloninger is in Florida providing live updates during our newscasts on the latest as Florida prepares for Irma.
