Synopsis:
A slow moving front will basically stall for a time along the East coast causing on and off showers through Thursday morning. It’ll be significantly cooler.
The front will push offshore later Thursday with the sun returning by afternoon. Cool sunny days are expected for the close of the workweek into the weekend as strong high pressure moves into the Northeast.
Hurricane Irma is a extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane. Winds are sustained at 185mph as of this writing. Irma is now tied as the second strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin. The storm is moving over the Northern Leeward Islands. Whether Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands get a direct hit is yet to be seen but the hurricane will be perilously close, so at a minimum some affects will be felt.
The storm will continue to move along the Southern edge of a high pressure system in the Atlantic. This will cause Irma to track on the Northern shore or just off the coast of the Dominica Republic, Haiti and Cuba Thursday through Saturday. The hurricane should maintain at least a category 4 or 5 status during this time frame with winds of 145mph+.
Now to Florida. Most of the computer models put the Irma as a dangerous cat 4 near the Southern tip of Florida by Saturday Night. The high gives way and loosens it grip on the storm. This allows the storm to take a dramatic Northerly turn. Where that turn specifically occurs is still up in the air. Will it be heading North just to the East of Fl, directly up the peninsula inland, or off the West coast of Florida? Questions that still need to be answered. The time is now to be prepared for a POSSIBLE landfalling dangerous hurricane in Florida. The map below is the National Hurricane Center track. Irma is still 3 days away from making the North turn. Much can happen to the anticipated track between now and then. Forecasting track errors can be quite large between 3-5 days.
Stay Tuned.
Today:
Cloudy with on and off showers. Highs in the lower 70s. Winds becoming Northeast at 5-10mph.
Tonight:
Scattered showers. Lows around 60ยบ in the City the 50s inland. Northwest winds at 5-10mph.
Thursday:
Morning showers, some afternoon sun. Highs in the lower 70s.
Friday:
Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
Saturday:
Sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.
Sunday:
Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 70s.
Keep it here for a no nonsense, no hype forecast.