Hurricane Irma path shows eye could skirt east Florida and head toward Georgia

Hurricane Irma will be a force to be reckoned with in the Southeast United States, according to the 11 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

The storm with 185 mph winds is poised to lash the Virgin Islands, and possibly skirt Puerto Rico late Wednesday.

Warnings are currently issued for areas including northern Haiti, Anguilla and the Virgin Islands and a hurricane watch is posted for Cuba and Central Bahamas with tropical storm force winds expected in the Dominican Republic.

The historically powerful storm is expected to move toward the southern edge of Florida by late Saturday with a landfall possible near Miami.

Although the direction and forecast is likely to change, the current cone shows a probable path of the eye traveling up the east coast of Florida and impacting southern Georgia by early next week.

The storm is expected to remain a major hurricane as it moves up the coast.

In the current cone, it also is possible that the eye could track to the western edge of the Florida peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico side, or off the east coast in the Atlantic.

Considering the size of the current Category 5 hurricane, severe weather will be possible far from the center of circulation.

The forecast cone is a projection of where the eye of the hurricane could pass in the coming days.

Stay tuned to the latest updates and make disaster preparations now before conditions worsen in the coming days.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Hurricane Irma path shows eye could skirt east Florida and head toward Georgia."