Hurricane Irma’s Winds Now Tied for Second Strongest in Atlantic History

When the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters mission into Irma estimated maximum surface winds of 160 knots (185 mph) at 11:38 a.m., it moved the powerful hurricane in a three-way tie for second place on the all-time list of Atlantic hurricanes as sorted by maximum sustained wind.

The current list:

Hurricane Season Winds

Allen 1980 190
Labor Day 1935 185
Gilbert 1988 185
Irma 2017 185
Wilma 2005 185
Mitch 1998 180
Rita 2005 180
Janet 1955 175
Carla 1961 175
Camille 1969 175

The hurricane continues to strengthen with the central pressure continuing to drop. It is now down to 926 millibars.

Here is the recon message:

URNT12 KNHC 051705
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE AL112017
A. 05/16:38:10Z
B. 16 deg 53 min N
058 deg 53 min W
C. 700 mb 2440 m
D. 160 kt
E. 054 deg 14 nm
F. 138 deg 151 kt
G. 054 deg 15 nm
H. 926 mb
I. 9 C / 3066 m
J. 18 C / 3052 m
K. 13 C / NA
L. CLOSED
M. C24
N. 12345 / 7
O. 0.02 / 1 nm
P. AF309 0811A IRMA OB 21
MAX FL WIND 151 KT 054 / 15 NM 16:33:00Z
MAX OUTBOUND FL WIND 148 KT 299 / 16 NM 16:44:30Z
CNTR DROPSONDE SFC WIND 180 / 4 KT
MAX FL TEMP 19 C 062 / 7 NM FROM FL CNTR

The next few days will be excruciating as we decipher the mountains of synoptic and model data to foretell where the hurricane will go and how strong it will be. The key to the intensity will be whether it threads through the islands of Greater Antilles. The eventual northward turn will be dictated by the westward extent of the subtropical ridge which is over the Atlantic.

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