"History is a wonderful thing, if only it was true"
-Tolstoy

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Wilma ...

Sounds of Fred Flintstone ....

Hope this doesn't come to pass.
Don't want to have to pack a mop with travel gear...

From WSJournal

Hurricane Wilma Strengthens
To Category 5 Storm
Associated Press
October 19, 2005 5:55 a.m.

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – Hurricane Wilma strengthened into a Category 5 monster early Wednesday with 175 mph winds, and forecasters said a key reading of the storm's pressure showed it to be the most powerful of the year.

Wilma was on course to sideswipe Central America and Mexico, and forecasters warned of a "significant threat" to Florida by the weekend.

The storm's power multiplied greatly over the last day. It was only Tuesday morning that Wilma grew from a tropical storm into a weak hurricane with 80 miles per hour winds. (See more information on Wilma at the National Hurricane Center's Web site.)

Forecasters warned that Wilma was likely to rake Honduras and the Cayman Islands before turning toward the narrow Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico's Cancun region -- then move into the storm-weary Gulf of Mexico.

...

A small fishing boat capsized in a coastal lagoon, but Honduran authorities rescued its occupants.

By 2 a.m. EDT, the hurricane was centered about 170 miles south-southwest of Grand Cayman Island and about 400 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. It was moving toward the west-northwest at nearly 8 mph, according to the Hurricane Center.

"It does look like it poses a significant threat to Florida by the weekend. Of course, these are four- and five-day forecasts, so things can change," said Dan Brown, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

...

Although the storm wasn't expected to approach Florida until the weekend, some residents began buying water, canned food and other emergency supplies early. Many said they take every storm seriously now, after witnessing the devastation from a succession of hurricanes that have ravaged the southern U.S.

Wilma's track could take it near Punta Gorda on Florida's southwestern Gulf Coast and other areas in the state hit by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, in August 2004; forecasters urged Florida residents to closely monitor Wilma.

...
Tracking : Hurricane WILMA

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

ya might want to pack yer waders the way it's lookin'. Major storm surge expected unless it drops down to a one or two.

Nan