Been watching Irma all day. Quite possibly the most fascinating event on the heels of Harvey, which was fascinating in itself. Two incredible storms back to back, and completely different monsters. Harvey was a lurker, like to hang around an check things out. Irma's Hell on a flaming horse with a huge 70 mile wide buzz saw that will blast anything in her way. At one point today, with her wind speeds, she was literally comparable to a 70 mile-wide EF 5 Tornado. Irma will be studied and go down as a once in a 100yrs storm.
The structure and intensity is so nuts. Dropsondes had 195mph sustained and 235 max gusts at one point today. NHC didn't make it official, but they will after months of data collection. It will be one to rival Patricia. Hit Barbuda head on with all its full fury. Barbuda fully exposed in eye - now venturing back into East eye-wall. there will be nothing left on that Island.
Scary part - much warmer waters and low sheer still ahead (FUEL). Heading for Cuba and US. Where will it go?
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Make sure any family from AL, FL, and Carolinas heeds the warning and get away from the coast. gonna be a big girl.