6 September 2017

Catastrophe Coming for Barbuda

Posted by Dan Satterfield

Meteo France RFadar shows the eye of Irma headed straight for Barbuda.

Irma has become a real monster tonight, with the pressure dropping to 916 mb and winds of 185 mph with gusts well over 200 mph. The pressure dropped significantly in the late afternoon and evening but it often takes a few hours for the winds to increase. For Barbuda, it does not matter, the island is about to be hit with 185 mph winds and that means few structures or trees will survive it.

The small island of Barbuda is in the direct path of the eye of Irma. It is only about 70 miles away as I type this.

The effect of this on Barbuda will be the same as an EF 4 tornado hitting the entire island.

Update:
Here is the pressure and wind trace from the buoy at Barbuda. I suspect this station will be blown to bits overnight.

The picture below is the station on Barbuda:

Image from NOAA.