Hurricane Irma Now Has Max Winds of 180 mph

Following on "Hurricane Irma Now In 'Beast Mode'" from eight hours ago the intensification continues. From Colorado State's Phil Klotzbach, one of the old pros of the hurricane biz and who, along with Emeritus prof. Bill Gray, made the yearly tropical storm forecasts something to take note of.

#Irma now has max winds of 180 mph - the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Wilma (2005).  Only 6 other Atlantic TCs have gotten this strong pic.twitter.com/mWAhmfMqwP

— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 5, 2017

Here's his table of Atlantic hurricane wind speeds and low pressures:

Table of all 17 Atlantic #hurricanes w/ max winds >=175 mph during their lifetime. #Irma pic.twitter.com/LtJz4otT7e

— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 5, 2017

As can be seen, Irma has jumped up the list in wind speed, we'll be back with the next National Hurricane Center pressure report. In the meantime here's the latest track forecast from Weather Underground (on blogroll at right):

The islands are in mortal peril and while a direct hit on Miami (despite this cone of uncertainty heading south and west into the Keys) at category 5 would probably not be as lethal, the damage estimates are in the $300 billion+ range.

Oh, and just for something to think about, the front right quadrant of 'canes are where the wind speeds are highest.