Air in Great Lakes could play role in Hurricane Irma

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP — As people in Houston continue to recover from Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma is expected to make landfall in the U.S. this weekend.

Where the hurricane actually hits is still being determined. And the Great Lakes region will have an impact on where it hits Florida.

We talked with National Weather Service Meteorologist Matt Zika about the hurricane’s projected path. Zika says how a low pressure system that’s pushing east across the Great Lakes region and the area of high pressure in the Ohio Valley that will build over the top of Irma will impact where the hurricane goes.

“While that’s a possibility, right now more factors and signs are pointing towards their being a significant impact somewhere along the eastern seaboard of the United States,” said Zika. “Granted it will probably not be a Category 5 storm at that point, there will be some weakening to it, but it’s still going to be a substantial storm.”

Right now, Hurricane Irma is expected to hit the Miami area and make its way up Florida early Sunday morning and into Monday. Irma had recorded sustained winds of 180 mph as of this morning.
At least ten people died in the Caribbean as a result of the storm.