Hurricane Irma has strengthened over the eastern Atlantic and is forecasted to become a major storm by Thursday evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Thursday.
Irma is expected to be an extremely dangerous hurricane for the next several days, it said.
The storm is located about 2,975 km east of the Leeward Islands and has sustained winds of 155 km/h, the Miami-based weather forecaster said. An AccuWeather forecaster said the storm will take about a week for the system to make its trek westward across the Atlantic Ocean.
Earlier this week, Halifax meteorologist Jim Murtha said this system could bring heavy rainfall and strong winds to parts of Atlantic Canada.
While currently a Category 2 storm, Irma’s winds could strengthen over the next two days, pushing the hurricane to Category 3 or Category 4, the Miami Herald reported.