Worse, one of its possible flight paths would put it on a collision course with the Carolinas by the Sunday after, Click Orlando reported.
Hurricanes are ranked on a sliding scale from 1 - the weakest - to 5. A Category 2 hurricane has wind speeds of 96-110 miles per hour.
Irma is currently rated at Category 3, with sustained winds of 115 mph. It is located about 1,845 miles east of the Leeward Islands and is moving toward land at around 12mph.
And while the hurricane will take at least a week to cross the Atlantic on its trek westwards, it will increase in speed and danger as it does so.
It's expected to grow into a Category 4 hurricane - with wind speeds of 130-156mph - on Tuesday.
"Irma is likely to become a major hurricane well before it reaches the Lesser Antilles [islands]," said AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. They are located around 200 miles southeast of Puerto Rico.
"All interests in the eastern Caribbean will need to monitor the progress of this evolving and likely dangerous tropical cyclone."
At this point the hurricane has two likely paths. One would take it north-west in a curve toward North and South Carolina. If that happens, landfall is expected on Sunday September 10.
The other path would see it striking Puerto Rico and the Hispaniola Island countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti much sooner.
"The American models take it to the Carolinas," News 6 meterologist Troy Bridges told Click Orlando.
"The European models have it going to Cuba and possibly threatening South Florida. It's just too early to tell."
AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Thompson said that 'Steering winds will guide Irma close to the Leeward Islands and then perhaps Puerto Rico and Hispaniola around the middle of next week.
"At the very least, there will be an increase in surf in the northeastern Caribbean early next week."
Irma is now the ninth named storm this busy hurricane season.
As well as marking the day when Irma could hit the Carolinas, September 10 will also mark the peak of hurricane season. On average 35 percent of storms occur during that month.
The storms also become more potent, thanks to warmer waters in the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration forecasters said the Atlantic Ocean's 2017 hurricane season will likely be above normal, with 11 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and two to four major storms.
In Houston, Texas, residents are beginning the grim search for bodies and survivors, as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey continue to recede.
The official death toll across the entire Gulf Coast region is currently 38 but it is likely to become exponentially higher as the bodies of the dead are recovered.
Corpses were seen floating in the water on Wednesday and many more are feared to be inside homes which have been inaccessible until now.
Houston Fire Department Chief Terry Garrison said their mission had gone from rescue to recovery, and firefighters were now going "block to block, door to door" to recover the bodies of the dead.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned residents that it will take months for the state to recover from its devastating floods.
"The worst is not yet over as far as the rain goes for southeast Texas. There's more to come," he said at a press conference on Wednesday where he described the catastrophe as being "far larger" than Katrina or Sandy.
In what experts are describing as the worst natural disaster in US history, more than 30,000 people have been left in shelters across the state.
In one area of Houston alone there were another 17 deaths reported on Wednesday.
The cost of the damage, which includes 500,000 ruined cars, is likely to total $160 billion. The Texas Department of Safety revealed on Wednesday that 48,700 homes had been impacted by the floods.
