Hurricane Irma roars to Category 3 in Atlantic

Storm’s exact track remains uncertain

The forecasts of a busy Atlantic hurricane season are proving accurate.

As Harvey weakened to a depression, a new hurricane, Irma, fired up in the central Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday.

As of 5 p.m. ET, Irma was rated a Category 3 “major” hurricane with 115-mph winds. It is forecast to strengthen into an “extremely dangerous” hurricane over the next several days with winds of 140 mph.

A “major” hurricane is one of Category 3 strength or above.

Irma was about 1,780 miles east of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean and was moving to the west-northwest at 12 mph.

It posed no immediate threat to land, and its track remained highly uncertain, as is typical for storms that far out to sea.

Irma will take about a week to trek west across the Atlantic Ocean, AccuWeather said. Possibilities range from a landfall on the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean to the Carolinas and Bermuda — and everything in between.

Meanwhile, the hurricane center is watching a separate area of disturbed weather in the western Gulf of Mexico, one that could spin into a tropical depression or storm in the next five days.

“If this system does develop, it could bring additional rainfall to portions of the Texas and Louisiana coasts,” the hurricane center said.