Just as a recap, Irma made landfall earlier this morning in the Keys as a Cat 4. It then made landfall again on Marco Island this afternoon as a Cat 3. Because the first U.S. landfall for Irma was at Cat 4 strength, Irma is an “historical storm” for yet another reason: Harvey and Irma, both Cat 4s upon landfall in the U.S., make this the first Atlantic season on record with two landfalling Cat 4s. These two major landfalls were only 16 days apart.
It’s really tough to see the images and video coming out of Florida. We all have friends, family, people we know, places we love… homes we own… Many of us HERE with some kind of investment THERE in the Sunshine State… It is making this epic storm that’s so far from New England feel much closer to home. We’ve been covering Irma here on #7News throughout the weekend – and our hearts go out to our sister station, WSVN, in Miami. The anchors there (and all around Florida) doing round-the-clock coverage kept saying, “We’ll get through this together.” Our hearts were right there with you. Thoughts and and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible storm… now while they’re still in it… and in the coming weeks as they clean up and rebuild.
Meantime, back here closer to home, our weather story is a quiet one. For those of you who thought we had said a final goodbye to our beach days prematurely (before Labor Day) – you’re in for a treat! We’ll be warming things up starting tomorrow, and it’s back into the 80s for the middle of the week. Take a look at the 7on7 Forecast at the top of this post: Mostly sunny skies are with us Mon-Wed. During Thursday we’ll start to see clouds moving in – and Friday and Saturday could feature a few showers from the leftovers of Irma. Still, it’s just a “chance” of a few showers both of those days. Neither day looks like a washout.
Yes – there has already been a lot of talk on social media and the interwebs about the “next threat in the Tropics.” It’s true that we’ve been tracking Hurricane Jose for several days now too – still out in the Atlantic where it’s expected to wobble around for the next few days. Remember that past 4-5 days, there’s just not enough certainty on any track for these storms – so we are in the “wait and see” mode when it comes to Jose. As always, forecasts can change – and as always, we’ll keep you posted every step of the way. I will say though, today marks the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season (Sept. 10th) and typically we see a sharp drop in tropical activity after the peak. Let’s hope this is the case this year. Be well. – Breezy