Friday night Hurricane Irma battered Cuba with category four winds in excess of 140-150 mph. The good news is it’s weakened a bit as it made it it’s over land. The bad news is the storm is expected to regain a bit of strength as it makes its shift north over the Straights of Florida and into the southern part of the Sunshine State.
As far as that northern shift there’s also been a change in it’s direction on the U.S. mainland.
Instead of eastern coast of Florida getting the brunt force of Irma, the storm has shifted a bit more westward as cities like Fort Myers and Tampa now lie in the direct path of this monumental Hurricane.
Latest advisory says #HurricaneIrma weakened to cat. 4 storm, still has potential to be cat. 5 https://t.co/0hoExBW0z8 pic.twitter.com/1zRQrgClQY
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) September 9, 2017
However the doesn’t mean the east coast is off the hook. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and West Palm Beach are all expected to get dangerous winds and storm surges as Irma makes her way up the Florida peninsula. It also still has the potential to redevelop into a category five storm with moving over those warmer waters along the Keys.