© 2025 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hurricane Irma Makes Landfall on Marco Island, Heading North to Naples

WGCU | By Matthew F Smith
Published September 10, 2017 at 4:11 PM EDT
Image: NOAA

Hurricane Irma made landfall on Marco Island shortly after 3:30 p.m. Sunday, with Florida Public Radio Emergency Network forecasters seeing winds blowing at 100 mph down the coast near Marco Island.

Areas south of Marco, like Everglades City, were seeing winds at a minimum of 43 mph with wind speeds growing in areas closer to the storm.

As of 3:30 p.m. winds around 76 mph were being reported at the Naples Airport, with gusts up to 115 mph as the eyewall of the storm, the most powerful portion of Irma, enters the area.

As that eyewall moves north it's producing wind speeds estimated up from 90-103 mph. Commenting on the powerful winds, forecaster Jeff Huffman said “far from the eye these squalls are vicious.”
Tags
Weather Hurricane IrmaHurricaneWeatherLocal
Matthew F Smith
Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.
See stories by Matthew F Smith
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has emerged as one of the Suncoast’s most active partners with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
    Immigration
    Sarasota County Sheriff's Office cashes in on ICE crackdown
    Alice Herman/Suncoast Searchlight
    As the federal government intensifies its immigration crackdown, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has emerged as one of the Suncoast’s most active partners with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In recent months, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman’s deputies have patrolled the Everglades immigration jail known as “Alligator Alcatraz” and shuttled immigrants between detention facilities in Florida, earning more than $280,000 in state funding for the work. Meanwhile, the number of ICE detainers — which keep people up to 48 hours past their release date for possible detention and deportation — have quadrupled this past year inside the already crowded county jail.
  • Inside the Foulds Theatre at the Alliance for the Arts
    Arts & Culture
    Alliance for the Arts announces theater season
    Tom Hall
    The Alliance for the Arts’ upcoming theater season will feature a dynamic mix of heartfelt comedies, thought-provoking dramas, and original works that spotlight the depth and diversity of Southwest Florida’s theatre community.
  • Scene from 'The Play That Goes Wrong' at North Fort Myers High School.
    Arts & Culture
    The set is the star in North Fort Myers High School's 'The Play That Goes Wrong'
    Tom Hall
    Stage actors have to be nimble and quick. Castmates forget lines. Props aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Things go wrong, but the show must go on, sometimes forcing the cast and crew to make it up on the fly. That’s the crux of “The Play That Goes Wrong,” onstage in Red Knight Theatre at North Fort Myers High School this weekend.