Hurricane Irma: Westward Shift Possible Good News For Carolinas

Hurricane Irma’s westward track shift late Thursday was bad news for Florida residents but brought more questions about its impact on South Carolina, along with hope that a greater area of the Carolinas would be spared from the Category 4 storm’s possible path.

“There’s a chance of direct impacts in portions of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, but it’s too early to specify the magnitude and location of these impacts,” the National Weather Service said Friday morning.

By 8 a.m. Sept. 8, Irma had lost some, but not much of her punch. The beast that tore through the Caribbean, leaving at least 10 people dead in her wake, had downgraded to a strong Category 4 storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. Irma was located about 450 miles southeast of Miami, moving west-northwest at 16 mph.

Watch: Florida Braces As Irma Rips Across The Caribbean

(Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news in Charlotte — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

The NWS’ 8 a.m. forecast shows that by 2 a.m. Sept. 12, Irma’s cone will flank the western edge of North Carolina and South Carolina, bringing sustained tropical winds up to 73 mph and rain to the region. The cone, however, will just skirting the Charlotte metro area to the west. A day later, the storm will be centered over central Tennessee with winds expected to die down to less than 39 mph.

Irma’s direct projected impact on the Carolinas still remains an unknown. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has initiated evacuations of 143 healthcare and nursing home facilities in coastal coastal communities and has said he plans to issue a mandatory evacuation order for coastal residents beginning 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, The State reported Thursday.

• See Also: Hurricane Irma Will Downgrade To A Tropical Storm By N.C. Landfall: NWS

On its current path, Irma is expected to clear the northern Cuban coastline by Saturday and make its way up the center of the state in the early morning hours Monday. Forecasters say Irma’s hurricane-force winds extend out 70 miles from the center while tropical storm-force winds reach out 185 miles. Although downgraded, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say Irma remains an “extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane.”

Patch Editor Sherri Lonon contributed to this report.

Images via National Weather Service

Like Charlotte Patch on Facebook and keep reading below: