Irma is still a powerful Cat 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds just north of the Cuba coast, expected to make landfall in the Florida Keys Sunday morning and move northward hugging the west coast of Florida and then curve into Georgia as a tropical storm Monday and eventually curve into NE Alabama by Tuesday morning. It will have an increasing impact on our weather especially Monday and Monday evening. On this blog update I’ll tell you what we can expect here. First the new NHC forecast cone on Irma. Notice how the cone covers much of Alabama and extends beyond Tennessee.
EFFECTS IN ALABAMA: Monday morning, what will then likely be Tropical Storm Irma will depart Florida and enter south Georgia. It will curve left and probably be close to Albany, GA by Monday evening. We will be on the west side of storm. The greatest threat of spin up tornadoes is on the other side of Irma’s track.
Alabama, especially eastern Alabama from about I-65 eastward can expect rain squalls around the circulation of Irma. Winds will increase Monday and Monday night, to 20-30 mph sustained, with gusts to near 40 mph (Tropical storm force). This could bring down some tree limbs. Can’t rule out some power failures especially in SE Alabama, eastern Alabama and closer to the Georgia border. Map below shows potential rainfall of up to 3-4” mainly east of I-65. (Notice the swath of extremely heavy rain in Georgia near the path of Irma)
This map is helpful. It shows the area most likely to see wind gusts which reach or 40 mph especially Monday afternoon & evening. The map is centered on 7PM. You may want to secure loose objects around the yard and outside your home that could be blown around.
TUESDAY MORNING: By Tuesday morning, Irma will be a depression in NE Alabama and the affects on Central Alabama’s will be gradually relaxed.
Here’s your forecast for the next few days.
Please feel free to share this post. There will be another update this afternoon. And, there will be a special Sunday Morning video update. Have a nice day.
–Rich