As the northern Caribbean islands brace for impact and evacuations are ordered in south Florida, Hurricane Irma became one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded on Tuesday afternoon with sustained winds of over 185mph and an intensity that was "redefining the rules" of what a storm in this part of the world could be.

"One of the most incredible things I have ever seen on satellite." —Eric Blake, National Hurricane Center

"Wow," tweeted meteorologist Eric Holthaus, "Hurricane # Irma is now expected to *exceed* the theoretical maximum intensity for a storm in its environment. Redefining the rules."

The National Hurricance Center, in an afternoon advisory, warned that Irma was a "potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane" that would bring "life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards" to the Leeward Islands beginning on Tuesday night, with Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Cuba, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, the Dominic Republic, and Haiti also in danger in the days ahead. The Florida Keys and southern coastal areas of the mainland, including Miami, could face a direct hit this weekend.

If you're in Irma's path, this is a worst-case scenario. You've never experienced a hurricane like this. Stronger than Andrew or Katrina. pic.twitter.com/GXbhFqRgLm — Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 5, 2017

With NOAA providing images of the "monster eye" of the storm taken from space, Eric Blake, a scientist at the National Hurricane Center, remarked that it was "one of the most incredible things I have ever seen on satellite":

Eye of a Monster: Here's an extended look into the eye of the powerful #HurricaneIrma, today, Sept. 5, 2017, courtesy of NOAA's #GOES16. pic.twitter.com/MWeLz9kGkn — NOAA Satellites PA (@NOAASatellitePA) September 5, 2017

The National Weather Service urged everyone within Irma's potential path to prepare for an emergency as it provided updates on the "extremely dangerous" Category 5 storm:

#Irma is the strongest #hurricane in the Atlantic basin outside of the Caribbean Sea & Gulf of Mexico in NHC records https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/P8ebbQJR4k — NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) September 5, 2017

My view of history tonight with #Irma. GOES16 30-sec prelim non-operational data is incredible but my thoughts are w/the people in harms way pic.twitter.com/d0DdsVulK3 SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. Get our best delivered to your inbox.





— Eric Blake (@EricBlake12) September 5, 2017

According to a mid-afternoon update from the Weather Underground's Jeff Master:

Hurricane Irma intensified into an extremely dangerous high-end Category 5 storm with top sustained winds of 180 mph on Tuesday morning, putting it among the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever observed. Irma's winds are the most powerful ever measured in an Atlantic hurricane north of the Caribbean and east of the Gulf of Mexico. Measurements from Hurricane Hunter aircraft found peak winds of close to 180 mph, well above the 157-mph threshold for Category 5 strength. At 11:07 am EDT, a dropsonde in Irma's eye measured a central pressure of 927 millibars, 4 mb lower than the previous pass, so Irma is still strengthening. Irma is poised to deliver a punishing blow to the northern Lesser Antilles Islands on Tuesday night and Wednesday. As of 11 am EDT Tuesday, Hurricane Warnings were in effect for the northern Leeward Islands, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Tropical storm-force winds are expected to spread into the Lesser Antilles on Tuesday night, reaching the Virgin Islands on Wednesday morning, Puerto Rico on Wednesday afternoon, and the Dominican Republic on Thursday morning (Figure 2). As of 8 am EDT, most of southern Florida, Cuba, and The Bahamas were in the 5-day cone of uncertainty for Irma.

Subsequent to Master's analysis, the storm did continue to intensify with its pressure continuing to drop and predictions that sustained winds could reach a jaw-dropping 200mph.

Eye continues to warm now +20°C ... if convection flares or clouds cool (more pink) then Hurricane #Irma should reach 200 mph. pic.twitter.com/yzJ5EFFTPt — Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) September 5, 2017

With the city of Houston and other communities along the Gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana just beginning to recover from the damage left by Hurricane Harvey last week, another major storm about to make landfall only serves to highlight the warnings from climate scientists and weather experts that powerful storms, fueled by warmer ocean temperatures, would become more frequent and more dangerous due to the effects of global warming.

It's almost like something has... changed. https://t.co/P1FonOd7TI — Emily Atkin (@emorwee) September 5, 2017

Some don't like scientists talking re #climate change during disasters, so before #Irma strikes: Caribbean water temps are abnormally high. pic.twitter.com/JvglgrebEu — Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) September 5, 2017

#Irma is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, says @NOAA (w/ 5 day path projection) #climatechange pic.twitter.com/gWsyGQlhqY — UN Climate Action (@UNFCCC) September 5, 2017