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A 500 mb trough will be swinging through the midwest, exiting the northeast coastline next weekend.  Will the trough be able to pick up Irma and pull her out to sea? Or will an upper-level ridge build in quickly behind the trough exiting the Northeast coast causing Irma to directly impact the Southeastern United States or Mid-Atlantic coastline? Too early to know for sure but those along the southeast coast, Gulf-coast all the way northward into the Mid-Atlantic and New England need to be thinking about their hurricane preparation plans.  Irma may become as strong as Rita, Mitch and Katrina with some models dropping her pressure down near 908 millibars.