Hurricane Irma has been wreaking havoc through the Caribbean as it heads towards Florida.
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Irma is the first Category 5 hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic season. It is expected to make landfall in south Florida which brings up memories of another catastrophic hurricane to make landfall there - Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Hurricane Andrew made landfall as a Category 5 storm in Miami-Dade county and was one of the costliest hurricanes on record. A side by side comparison of Andrew and Irma though shows Irma is much larger than Andrew.
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By using an distance estimation tool on satellite/radar, Irma measured to be more than 400 miles wide. If Irma were to be in Ohio it would actually stretch across the whole state.
Irma is so big that it would go from Champaign, IL through Pittsburgh, PA, according to Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Kirstie Zontini.
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A storm this big also has a very impressive wind field.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane force winds (winds 74mph or greater) stretch out 70 miles in any direction. Tropical storm force winds (34mph-73mph) stretch about 185 miles from the center of the storm.
Even though Irma likely won't make landfall as a Category 5 storm like Andrew, it's size and ability to spread hurricane force winds across the Peninsula is what make it such a danger.
