What Sebastian, Vero Beach can expect from Hurricane Irma

SEBASTIAN – Hurricane Irma is still a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph, and we have some information on what we could expect in Sebastian and Vero Beach.

Hurricane Irma spaghetti models show a projected path shifting to the west, which is good and bad for Sebastian and Vero Beach.

It’s good because it will keep much of the eye west of us. But it’s also bad because we could experience the northeast portion of the storm which is known to spawn tornados. In other words, it’s the bad part of the storm.

Winds in Sebastian, Fellsmere, and Vero Beach from Hurricane Irma will pick up noticeably on Saturday night from the northeast at 40 to 60 mph.

On Sunday, Irma will begin to move into our area with winds 80 to 100 mph. This can change again, according to updated forecasts.

However, the forecast conditions by the National Weather Service changed during the past four hours with winds from 115 mph to 100 mph as Irma continues to shift to the west.

Our town could still face a lot of devastation, or it might not. It’s been a frustrating task for meteorologists to determine where this hurricane is going.

Irma won’t hit us directly, and that’s an impact we won’t see that Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne made in 2004. That’s good news for us.

We will continue to update on the forecast and the winds when we see changes published by the National Weather Service.

In the meantime, be safe and stay indoors during the storm. What will be will be, and we’re all in this together. It’s going to be alright.