Hurricane Irma is the size of Texas
Hurricane Irma is not only a Category 5 monster, it’s also being described as “an enormous beast” that’s roughly the size of Texas.
An image overlay of Irma over the Lone Star State by meteorologist Brian James of Dallas-Forth Worth’s NBC5 showed the massive scale of the spinning behemoth.
Overlaying an image of #Irma over the state of Texas to give you an idea of the size of the hurricane. pic.twitter.com/EmfBWHYbJ3
— Brian James (@BrianJamesNBC5) September 5, 2017
It measured 785 miles wide Tuesday night, James said, adding that the state spans about 720 miles from El Paso to its opposite border near Shreveport, Louisiana.
Earlier, Irma measured about 400 miles long and 400 miles wide, Cleveland meteorologist JD Rudd told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The whole state of Ohio measures 220 miles long and 220 miles wide at its most distant points.
On Wednesday, the storm was 364 miles wide as it passed through the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean — large enough to cover states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, the Express reported.
It also was compared to various European countries.
“Hurricane Irma is so big that it would cover the UK and Ireland,” Channel 4 meteorologist Liam Dutton tweeted.
Sky correspondent Ian Woods said: “It’s the size of France. It’s an enormous beast,” the Express reported.
The eye of the storm — the calm area that measures about 30 miles across — could cover the Detroit area, which is about 1,337 square miles.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted that the eye was large enough to cover the island of Barbuda, which Irma hit early Wednesday.
“Context for size of Hurricane #Irma eye. Barbuda is 62 square miles. Washington DC is 68 square miles,” he wrote.