With hurricane season 2017 in full swing and what was hurricane Harvey still plowing a path through the US, what is in store for Florida?

Florida’s gulf coast side is also vulnerable to the same warm water storms that come into the gulf like Texas and Louisiana. Although it’s usually Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia that get pummeled pretty hard, Florida is affected too.  Florida is actually a more likely victim for the 2017 Hurricane season than other states because it gets hammered on both the Atlantic and the gulf side.

Hurricane Harvey was downgraded to a Tropical Depression but it is still dropping high levels of water over the Southern parts of the US. Residents in Louisiana braced as their bayous rose and folks in Mississippi prepared for a rise in river water. Folks in Tennessee are also preparing as it tracks toward them. Why do I care and why write about this? Because I’m from the south, and the majority of my favorite vacation spots and travel destinations of the past will all be impacted or already have been.

As relief engulfs many and this system passes on by, there’s a new threat looming in the Atlantic…and it has Florida in its sight.  This new storm is expected to become a hurricane named Irma. A Tropical Storm becomes a hurricane when its wind speed reaches 75 mph. The last advisory posted winds at 70 mph with gusts even stronger…and still building strength. This predicted hurricane has a large diameter with winds reaching as far out as 60 miles from the eye. At less than 20 mph, a slow mover (just like Harvey was & still is) it is headed toward Florida as it builds.

Potential US forecasts currently suggest Irma will skirt Florida. But the European model (which accurately predicted Hurricane Harvey’s landfall & strength) actually shows Irma entering the Gulf of Mexico. The US prediction fares better for the Gulf Coast states still in recovery, but the European model prediction could be even more devastating for Texas! Here is their 10 day forecast.

Florida is not out of the danger zone yet. Both the US and European models are only forecast for the next few days and no one person truly knows where it will go or how strong it will be.  Many of the residents of Central Florida still haven’t completed last year’s Hurricane Matthew damages and the ones that have probably don’t want to rebuild again so soon. On the other hand, Texas can’t handle another hurricane! Here is the US model forecast.

Hurricane Season 2017 is nowhere near finished and it could go down in history as one of the most devastating yet.