2017 North Atlantic hurricane season
Hurricane Irma 2017
Irma maintained major-hurricane strength across a long Atlantic and Caribbean route. It devastated several northeastern Caribbean islands before striking Cuba and making two Florida landfalls.
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178 mph
Sep 6, 2017 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Across the Atlantic to the Leeward Islands
Irma developed near the Cape Verde Islands on August 30 and quickly became a major hurricane. Eyewall replacement cycles caused several fluctuations before renewed strengthening in early September. Archived sustained winds reached 155 knots on September 5, followed by a minimum pressure of 914 millibars early the next day.
The Category 5 hurricane caused catastrophic damage in Barbuda, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla and the Virgin Islands. It later regained Category 5 strength before reaching Cuba, where land interaction weakened the circulation.
Two Florida landfalls
Warm water in the Florida Straits allowed Irma to strengthen again before it reached Cudjoe Key on September 10 as a Category 4 hurricane. It then moved north and made another landfall on Marco Island at Category 3 strength later that day.
The Florida Keys suffered extensive destruction along the hurricane's route. Irma weakened inland, became a remnant low over Alabama and dissipated over Missouri on September 13, ending a track that had crossed thousands of kilometers of ocean and numerous island communities.
IMPACT
Reported impact
| Deaths | 133 |
|---|---|
| Areas affected | Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, France, Saint Martin, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, United States Virgin Islands |
US impacts by state
Selected NOAA Storm Events records for hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge events during this storm's archived track. Deaths and injuries include reported direct and indirect impacts. These records are incomplete, particularly for indirect deaths, and are not storm-wide totals. Other hazards and impacts outside the US are excluded.
| State or territory | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage (event-year USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 0 | 0 | $650,000.00 |
| Florida | 75 | 40 | Not fully reported |
| Georgia | 3 | 8 | Not fully reported |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | $0.00 |
Property damage is reported in dollars of the event year, without inflation adjustment; crop damage is excluded. A missing value is not zero. These figures do not replace the storm-wide estimates elsewhere on this page.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
Further reading
NOAA IBTrACS v04r01 historical track archive
Official report (PDF) — National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report.
QUICK ANSWERS
Irma in brief
What was Hurricane Irma's highest wind speed?
178 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 5, 2017, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Hurricane Irma?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 5, 2017, 09:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Hurricane Irma's lowest pressure?
914 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 6, 2017, 03:00 AM UTC.
When did Hurricane Irma occur?
The archived track runs from Aug 30, 2017, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 13, 2017, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Aug 30, 2017, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 12, 2017, 03:00 AM UTC.
Where did Hurricane Irma form?
In the North Atlantic basin, in the 2017 season. Its first archived position is 16.1°N, 26.9°W on Aug 30, 2017, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Hurricane Irma make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 115 mph on Sep 10, 2017, 07:30 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
How many people died in Hurricane Irma?
133 deaths are recorded by Wikidata.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology