Hurricane Irma’s eye is now about 5 miles north of Naples, officially weakening to a Category 2 hurricane but still seeing top winds in excess of 140 mph. In the next two to three hours, Fort Myers should see its worst weather of the storm.
The slight downgrade two Category 2 (from its earlier classification of Category 3) of the storm to a Cat 2 is due to the eyewall of the storm coming ashore and weakening, according to FPREN meteorologist Jeff Huffman
With the storm overland again and the eyewall passing over Naples, forecasters are expecting severe winds out of the west to bring in upward of ten to 15 feet of storm surges, with some surges as high as 18 feet due to high tide.
In addition to the potentially deadly storm surges expected this evening, conditions are favorable for tornados and "several places may experience tornado damage."
Naples is seeing ongoing high wind advisories, along with hurricane warnings. Tropical storm force winds are extending outward to more than 220 miles from the storm’s center.
Heavy rain extends along the I-75 corridor, with bands of heavy rain now falling in the Tampa metro area. By Monday morning, the storm will have passed north of Tampa and Orlando, forecasters said.