The Atlantic basin has three active hurricanes for the first time in seven years.
Hurricanes Jose and Katia formed in the Atlantic basin Wednesday evening. Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms on record, is already barreling towards Florida where it could strike as a Category 4 or 5 storm.
“The last time that we had three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin was September 16-17, 2010,” Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
In 2010, major hurricanes Julia, Igor and Karl formed in the Atlantic basin. None of them made landfall in the U.S.
Irma is the strongest Atlantic storm outside of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Jose is expected to track behind Irma, crossing over some of the same eastern Caribbean islands Irma passed over.
Irma is expected to hug the Florida coast, but even if it doesn’t make landfall, it could still do lots of damage. Hurricane Matthew did not make landfall, but still did $10 billion worth of damage when it hugged the Atlantic coast in 2016.
President Donald Trump and GOP Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued emergency declarations. Irma is already passing over Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, pelting them with torrential rain, high winds and storm surge.
Katia formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall in Mexico as a tropical depression on Saturday morning. Both Katia and Jose have maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.
The Atlantic now has 3 hurricanes active at the same time: #Irma, #Jose and #Katia. The last time this occurred was September 16-17, 2010. pic.twitter.com/JnePDWiHee
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 6, 2017
[contentcards url=”http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/06/the-atlantic-has-three-active-hurricanes-for-the-first-time-in-7-years/” target=”_blank”]The Atlantic record for hurricanes at the same time is 4: this occurred both in 1893 and 1998.
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 6, 2017
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