Irma will not be a Category 6, and other things to know

Panic-stricken Facebookers posted about the mega hurricane that could, in (internet) "fact," end life as we know it. 

"Category 6? If Hurricane Irma Becomes The Strongest Hurricane In History, It Could Wipe Entire Cities Off The Map" the headline screams from atop any number of articles circulated by any number of sites. That particular headline is on a piece penned by someone named Michael Snyder, who in his work of fiction goes into the fact that the name "Irma" means "War Goddess."

Another site claiming to be "CNN Business News" claims "HURRICANE IRMA could be a category 6 by the time it hits east coast." But upon closer inspection, the URL is http://cnn-business-news.ga, which is not affiliated with the Cable News Network unless it has recently gone into providing "the highest-quality financial and personal online calculators which will help you to get necessary data and you can use it for on most mobile devices and computers."

It's fake news, officials say. 

"No, there's no such thing as a Category 6 hurricane. Category 5 is as high as it goes," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Thomas Winesett. "At this point anyone claiming to know exactly where it's going to make landfall, don't listen. Nobody knows. And don't share it. When you get 70,000 people sharing clickbait, that's a problem."

Local meteorologists had to answer questions about the Category 6 rumor on social media as well.

Just above a screenshot of one of the fake articles with a giant 'X' through it, WDAM Meteorologist Nick Lilja posted in his blog, "Like, to the guy who wrote that Irma was going to be a 'Category 6' storm: You suck."

"There is no such thing as a typhoon in the Atlantic or a Category 6 or higher hurricane," posted WAPT Meteorologist Nathan Scott atop a Facebook Live in which some viewers actually debated him in the comments based on the fake news posts.

"The scale we have right now really never envisioned storms that powerful. In fact, some have suggested that we need to add a 'category 6' to describe the kind of 'super storms' that are now developing in the Atlantic," one viewer wrote.

"That article is pure hype and absolutely false. There are no 'super storms' trend," Scott wrote in the thread. "We have not had a major hurricane since 2005 and now after Harvey hit there are a lot a fake articles spreading on social media."

The National Weather Service posted a link to remind people to go to the official National Hurricane Center website if they have questions.

What to expect

Just because it won't make the imaginary Category 6 rating, that's not to say Irma won't be a dangerous storm. It is. With winds upwards of 180 miles per hour, Irma is formidable and deadly. 

Winesett said it's still too early to know what track Irma will take with any certainty, but that extra measures are being taken to try to narrow it down.

Hurricane hunters and air surveillance are continuing, he said, along with weather balloons being sent four times a day, which is twice the normal rate, he said. 

"There's a trough of low pressure coming across the U.S. that will be a key player in the track of Irma," Winesett said. "The spread hopefully decreases as we know more. It's still possible Irma could turn out to sea, and hopefully that's what happens."

As of Monday afternoon, Hurricane Irma is centered about 530 miles east of the Leeward Islands, moving toward the west-southwest and is expected to turn west Monday and then again on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. On the forecast track, the center of Irma will move near or over portions of the northern Leeward Islands Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

In his blog, Lilja posted Monday: 

We know that we don’t know what is going to happen with Irma beyond five days (as of this writing, that would be beyond Friday, September 8th). That goes for the forecast track, the intensity of the storm, and who will be affected. We know that we don’t know because there are some big factors that go into Irma’s path that we can’t know yet and the models have struggled to figure out:

1. Placement of ridge of High Pressure in the Atlantic
2. Strength of ridge of High Pressure in the Atlantic
3. Placement of the trough in the eastern 2/3 of the US
4. Influence of Typhoon Sanvu on the jet stream

Because of that, there are still hundreds of possibilities.

Irma is an "extremely dangerous" storm, and was setting off seismometers in the Caribbean on Tuesday. It could display some fluctuations in intensity, according to the National Weather Service. Irma will remain a powerful Category 4 or 5 through this week, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 60 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending 160 miles.

The storm looks like it's prepared to rage across the Leeward Islands, Antigua and nearby islands later Tuesday and move on to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

South Florida is expected to take a hit as well, and then it's not clear if Irma will track up the east coast or charge on into the Gulf of Mexico.

Meteorologists remind everyone in the broad potential impact range to keep an eye on information disseminated by the National Hurricane Center and other reputable sources. 

"Hopefully by the middle of this week, over the next couple of days we should get a better idea of whether it's headed this way, hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday," Winesett said. "Right now there's just not enough to be confident in an exact track, but if it was coming this way it would be early next week, so we still have plenty of time. But be keeping an eye on it, make sure you’re prepared."

When and if it's known if Irma will impact Mississippi, that message will be absolutely clear, Winesett said. 

"If it looks like it’s going to come this way, we’ll definitely let people know. There will be no mistaking if it looks like that," he said.

More:Hurricane Irma's path toward U.S. still uncertain

Contact Therese Apel at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.