Hurricane Jose Continues To Intensify, And Could Pummel Irma-Devastated Caribbean Islands This Weekend

One week ago, Irma first made headlines as a mere tropical storm that eventually grew into the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. The system has demolished the Caribbean islands of Barbuda and St. Martin with more flooding to come in Puerto Rico, and the hurricane’s current path points toward a direct Floridian hit early Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Hurricanes Jose and Katia developed with the former following close behind where Irma passed only days ago.

Right now, Katia’s still sitting almost stationary in the Gulf of Mexico at a Category 1 (and may turn south, making landfall in Mexico in the coming days). Yet the greater threat, Jose, has intensified at a rapid pace, which isn’t good news for the already battered Caribbean. Overnight, Jose began to strengthen and currently holds sustained winds of 90 mph. The system is expected to fully gain Category 3 status (over 111 mph) sometime on Friday, therefore qualifying it as a “major” hurricane.

This weekend, Jose could overtake the same islands — which are now on alert — that are already struggling in the wake of Irma:

Jose was located about 715 miles east of the Lesser Antilles as of the 10 a.m. CDT advisory and was headed west-northwest at 18 mph.

Hurricane watches were issued for the islands of Antigua and Barbuda on Thursday morning. Barbuda was particularly hard-hit by Hurricane Irma on Wednesday, and widespread devastation has been reported on that island.

For perspective’s sake, here’s a NOAA satellite image of Jose tagging along behind Irma on Wednesday.

Once it passes over much of the Caribbean, Jose is currently projected to make an earlier turn to the north and — hopefully — spare Florida a post-Irma landfall. Yet as we’ve seen with so many other Atlantic storms, these systems can change plans at any time. We’ll of course keep you updated on all hurricane-related matters as they develop.

(Via NOLA.com, Washington Post & AL.com)