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Major Hurricane Irma Forecast to Hit South Florida Sunday

Major Hurricane Irma is still a Category 5 storm and still a significant threat to the entire peninsula of Florida.

As of 5 am Thursday, the official forecast from the National Hurricane Center includes landfall as a Category 4 storm in southeast Florida near Miami Sunday morning. Considerable uncertainty still exists, however, in when and where the storm will make a turn to the north, which will play a significant role in how severe the impacts at any given location will be.  For example, it is still entirely possible that Hurricane Irma will move into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and hit portions of southwest Florida near Naples or Fort Myers.  Conversely, a track further to the east of Florida's Atlantic coast is also just as possible.

Regardless of the exact path Irma decides to take, all Floridians are strongly encouraged to have a plan, be ready to act on it, and stay informed.  As with any hurricane forecast, this is a developing story and we are updating it often.

Copyright 2020 WUFT 89.1. To see more, visit .

Jeff Huffman is Chief Meteorologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. In addition to his full-time position at the university's radio and television stations, WUFT-FM/TV and WRUF-TV, the latter of which he co-founded, Huffman also provides weather coverage to public radio stations throughout Florida