Hurricane Irma reached peak intensity near the Caribbean islands of Barbuda, Saint Martin, and Virgin Gorda.

Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage and multiple deaths across the Antilles and Eastern United States in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, though it was followed by Hurricane Maria, which struck the region at Category 5 intensity as well two weeks later. At the time, Irma was considered the most powerful hurricane on record in the open Atlantic region, outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Dorian two years later. It was also the third-strongest Atlantic hurricane at landfall ever recorded, just behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Hurricane Melissa, and Dorian.