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Irma most enduring super-storm on record: French weather service
Hurricane Irma, rampaging across the Caribbean, has produced sustained winds at 295 kilometres per hour (183 miles per hour) for more than 33 hours, making it the longest-lasting, top-intensity cyclone ever recorded, France's national weather service said Thursday.
“Such an intensity, for such a long period, has never been observed in the satellite era,” which began in the early 1970s, said Etienne Kapikian, a forecaster at Meteo France.
“And it is continuing,” he told AFP, adding that Irma would probably remain a Category Five storm at least until it hits the Bahamas. DM
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