Hurricane Irma, now Category 2 storm, is heading to the Caribbean

Tropical Storm Irma

, the 2017 hurricane season's ninth named storm, strengthened into a hurricane Category 2 storm west Cape Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds to near 155 km/h ( 100 mph ) while heading to the Caribbean , informed U.S. National Hurricane Center ( NHC ).

Tropical Storm Irma strengthened into a major hurricane Category 2 storm, on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, 1,050 km (652 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands off the African coast, as of the 15.00 GMT advisory from the NHC.

NHC warned in its latest advisory that Hurricane Irma is forecast to continue to strengthen and it is expected to become a major hurricane by tonight with sustained wind speeds of at least 178 km/h ( 111 mph ) making it an " extremely dangerous " storm.

Tropical Storm Arlene was the first named storm of the year, following Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily and Franklin, the fifth tropical storm to form in the Atlantic intensified into the first hurricane of the season, Gert, the second hurricane, and Harvey, Category 4 storm and third hurricane of the year.

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