NE Georgia Could Be Affected By Irma

Hurricane Irma is expected to slam into the southern tip of Florida sometime over the weekend.

The powerful storm is moving like a buzz saw across the Caribbean as a category 5 storm still packing winds of up to 185 miles per hour.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center now believe Irma will make a sharp right turn northward up the Atlantic side of Florida over the weekend and eventually slam into the Savannah/Hilton Head area sometime late Sunday as a Category 3 hurricane.

From there, they are expecting the storm to turn again to the northwest and move over Northeast Georgia, the Upstate and Western North Carolina sometime Monday night into Tuesday.

However, meteorologist Steve Wilkerson with the National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg said Thursday that could still change.

Wikerson says we are still in the “cone of uncertainty.”

Now according to Wilkerson, if the latest track of Irma put out by the National Hurricane Center holds true, our area should brace for a pretty significant impact in the form of high winds and heavy rainfall.

Wilkerson said it will be Sunday before they have a better idea of how Irma will impact our area.

And as always, WNEG News will continue to monitor the track of hurricane Irma and bring you the latest updates for Northeast Georgia and the Upstate as they become available.