NOAA/NASA Hurricane Irma as seen from space by the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite when it was a Category 3 hurricane.
Hurricane Irma is moving closer to the Florida coast and is expected to arrive by Sunday. The storm is expected to make a major impact on South Florida, and that could include Hollywood. Schools are already cancelled in Broward County and Governor Rick Scott has already declared a State of Emergency for all 67 Florida counties.
NOAAThe NHC’s projection for Hurricane Irma as of Tuesday at 5 p.m. AST.
A 5:00 p.m. AST public advisory from the National Hurricane Center reports that the storm is still a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 185 mph. It is over 100 miles east of Antigua and is “potentially catastrophic” for Antigua and the other northern Leeward Islands. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are among the islands under a Hurricane Warning.
Miami-Dade County will begin evacuating people with special needs on Wednesday in preparation for Hurricane Irma t.co/eREuPNCgph
With the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas still fresh, Scott declared a State of Emergency on Monday. This allows local governments to begin preparations for the hurricane. Scott also suspended all tolls in the state to help move evacuations along smoothly and activated 100 members of the Florida National Guard. He was also successful in getting President Donald Trump to approve a Pre-Landfall Emergency Declaration.
Hollywood is in Broward County, which is one of the many South Florida counties that cancelled school for Thursday and Friday. The city has also posted a special page on its website to help residents prepare for the hurricane. You can also use FloridaDisasterPlan.org/GetAPlan to help put together a plan for your family or business. Click here for the Broward County evacuation map.
WSVN reports that Broward County will have 43 shelters, with enough room for 33,000 people.
“At 3 p.m. [Tuesday], the Broward County Emergency Operations Center partially activated in response to Hurricane Irma,” Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told WSVN. “To complete important pre-storm activity, those pre-storm activities include planning for an evacuation, if needed and at this time, no evacuation has been ordered for Broward County.”
Here’s the weather forecast of conditions at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport from the National Weather Service:
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Heat index values as high as 102. Light east wind becoming southeast 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 80. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 105. Light east wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 81. East wind around 10 mph.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Breezy, with a northeast wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Friday Night: Tropical storm conditions possible. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 81.
Saturday: Hurricane conditions possible. Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Saturday Night:Hurricane conditions possible. Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 80. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 87. Windy. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Sunday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 79. Windy. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Monday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 89. Windy. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 79. Windy.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Breezy.
