At 200 PM EDT (1800 UTC), the distinct eye of Hurricane Irma was located by a reconnaissance plane and Cuban radars near latitude 22.0 North, longitude 76.0 West. Irma has been moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 km/h), but the hurricane should resume a west-northwest motion later today. A turn toward the northwest is expected by late Saturday. On the forecast track, the eye of Irma should continue to move near the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas for the rest of today and Saturday, and be near the Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula Sunday morning.
Maximum sustained winds are near 155 mph (250 km/h) with higher gusts. Irma is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely to continue during the next day or two, and Irma is expected to remain a powerful category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 km).
The latest minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force reconnaissance plane was 925 mb (27.31 inches).