Russ

thanks. The Weather Underground had a very nice article.
Before going to bed, I took another look directly at the latest GOES satellite images. Yes, Irma is slowing down, now moving at 6 mph. And that could be a prelude to a change in direction. But it is "swinging very wide" to the west ... it did not make the sudden northwards turn that the computer gurus were expecting. It looks more like Irma will swing in an arc, going into the Gulf of Mexico - and then possibly heading back on a collision course with western Florida. The Florida keys will take a beating. And Tampa Bay shouldn't be breathing any sighs of relief ... not yet.

Definitely Cuba and The Keys will be hammered.

It looks like there will be some computer gurus in metereology - all the grad students working on their PhD's - who will be spending tonight drinking coffee ... and wondering why their predicted ground track went off course. Their predictions across the Virgin Is, Puerto Rico and the approach to Cuba were very good. Something went wrong when Irma was beside Cuba.