Each hurricane season brings a what is known as a wave train of tropical depressions generally forming in the south Atlantic off the African coast. This season south Atlantic waters are exceptionally warm, with the result that the wave train is unusually active. Right now, Irma and Jose are active and a tropical storm behind Jose is expected to become Hurricane Lee next week.
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As winds in Hurricane Irma reached and exceeded 185 MPH, the storm left the island of Barbuda 90% destroyed and has caused severe destruction in the Virgin Islands. The storm is expected to strike Puerto Rico as the strongest hurricane to hit the island in a century. Florida governor Rick Scott has warned residents to evacuate the Keys and the southern part of the state. Winds are sustained at 185 MPH and are gusting to 225 MPH. Right now, the storm appears to be ready to make landfall over south Florida, but if it turns more sharply it will cross the Bahamas and make landfall in Georgia. Because of abnormally high ocean temperatures, storms could continue forming into late fall.
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Hurricane Irma, an “extremely dangerous” Category 5 storm, is now moving toward the northern Lesser Antilles and Southern Florida. It’s already the strongest hurricane ever recorded outside the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and its current track suggests landfall somewhere in Florida over the weekend. Right now, the track looks as if it will hit southern Florida. Depending on whether or not it weakens as it moves through the Lesser Antilles, it could be one of the most powerful hurricane strikes in the history of the state.
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As I write this, Houston and Port Arthur, Texas are just beginning the cleanup from one of the most catastrophic storms in history. The damage will exceed even that of Hurricane Katrina. At the same time, torrential rains and flooding from Nepal to India have killed at least a thousand people and caused widespread suffering and economic disruption. Meanwhile, the planet is dotted with tens of thousands of wildfires. There is wildfire even in Greenland.
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