Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was a Category 5 hurricane in 2017, the 9th named storm, 4th hurricane, 2nd major hurricane, and a 1st Category 5 hurricane of the hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Irma is also the 4th consecutive hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season—after Franklin, Gert, and Harvey. The storm threatened the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Irma was also forecast to threaten the East Coast of the United States, but later forecast to hit Southwest Florida.[1]
| Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
 Hurricane Irma at peak intensity while making landfall in Saint Martin on September 6 | |
| Formed | August 30, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | September 14, 2017 |
| (Remnant low after September 12) | |
| Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 180 mph (285 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 914 mbar (hPa); 26.99 inHg |
| Fatalities | 52 direct, 82 indirect |
| Damage | $77.16 billion (2017 USD) (Fourth-costliest tropical cyclone on record; costliest in Cuban and the Leeward Islands history) |
| Areas affected | Cape Verde, Leeward Islands (especially Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Anguilla, Saint Martin and the Virgin Islands), Greater Antilles (Cuba and Puerto Rico), Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Eastern United States (especially Florida) |
| Part of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Irma was the first major hurricane to develop in the eastern Atlantic since Hurricane Julia in 2010. The storm developed on August 30, 2017 near the Cape Verde islands. On September 5, 2017, the storm became a Category 5 hurricane. It had maximum sustained winds of 180 miles per hour since Hurricane Wilma in twelve years earlier. As it hit landfall, Irma went down to a Category 2 hurricane. Irma was the easternmost Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricane or tropical storm watches and warnings were issued from Haiti to Dominica.
Hurricane Irma inflicted $77 billion worth of damage especially in Florida after making landfall in Florida.
Due to significant amount of damage and loss of life from the storm especially in Florida, the name Irma was retired in April 2018 by the World Meteorological Organization, and it was replaced with Idalia for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.
References
change- ↑ "Powerful Hurricane Irma Could be Next Weather Disaster". CNN. Retrieved September 5, 2017.