Related: What you need to know Friday about Hurricane Irma

Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for parts of Florida's west coast and the southern part of the state in advance of Irma, according to the National Hurricane Center. The National Hurricane Center’s latest track brings the Category 4 hurricane into southwest Florida, up the state a tad west of the center region, and further east than earlier forecasts. Currently Jose is just east of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean sea, but is poised to come dangerously close to, or hit, the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy, of which received the brunt of Category 5 storm Hurricane Irma earlier this week. Hurricane Katia, which is currently churning in the Gulf Of Mexico, has strengthened to a Category 2 storm, and is expected to make landfall in Mexico in the state of Veracruz. McNoldy says forecasters had expected a high-pressure system to weaken further north, allowing Irma to make the turn, but it is not weakening as fast as originally forecast.
Hurricane Jose intensifies into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane as it nears the northern Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.