Hurricane Wilma

[Druga Runda]

Strongest storm of the season!

Wilma's pressure readings Wednesday morning indicated that it was the strongest hurricane of the season, said Trisha Wallace, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Wilma had a reading of 892 millibars

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1228449

but luckily it is not going to make landfall anytime soon

 

[silence]

well... it will be over warm water before making landfall, which means it could get even more powerfull....

 

[Jimmers]

- I Must Increase My Power To Become More Powerful!!!
- Oh Yeah? Well My Power Is A Thousand Times More Powerful Than Your Power!!!1
- FOOL!!! I WILL DESTROY YOU WITH POWER... ... MY POWERFUL HANDS!!!

Alright, that's it, it's time to go to bed for me

 

[Deepak]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051019/ts_nm/weather_wilma_dc

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Wilma, which triggered mudslides that killed up to 10 people in Haiti, has strengthened to a catastrophic Category 5 storm as it approaches western Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula."

"An Air Force plane measured maximum sustained winds of near 175 mph (280 km/h) from the vicious storm, with higher gusts, the center reported at 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Wednesday.

The reconnaissance aircraft measured an estimated minimum air pressure of 884 MB, the lowest pressure ever observed in a in the Atlantic basin, the center reported, but cautioned that this reading should "be used with caution" until confirmed."

"The hurricane center warned of total rainfall accumulations up to 25 inches (it amazes me even more now, how on earth did Mumbai receive 40 inches in 24 hours) in mountainous terrain across Cuba, and of 10 to 15 inches elsewhere in the storm's path."

"As of 5 a.m. EDT, the center of the storm was near latitude 17.2 north, longitude 82.5 west, or about 170 miles south-southwest of Grand Cayman and about 365 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to the center's web site at www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 15 miles and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles , the hurricane center reported."

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

strongest storm ever, in the atlantic basin they say. eye is only 2 miles wide.

 

[Kanyamagufa]

...AT 11 AM EDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 17.4 NORTH... LONGITUDE 83.2 WEST OR ABOUT 325
MILES... 520 KM... SOUTHEAST OF COZUMEL MEXICO...

It's getting closer...

They're expecting the first encounters to be within 24 hours...

I don't know what else to say. I just hope it's not a repeat of Katrina.

 

[Deepak]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051022/ts_nm/weather_wilma_dc

"Massive Hurricane Wilma rampaged through Mexico's Caribbean beach resorts on Saturday, threatening heavy damage and loss of life as it meandered into the Yucatan peninsula.

Winds of 140 miles an hour (220 kph) howled in off the sea, knocking over houses, upturning trees and trapping thousands of tourists in cramped shelters."

"Wilma dumped 23 inches (590 mm) of rain on Friday on Isla Mujeres island, an unprecedented downpour for Mexico.

"We are talking about a record hurricane as far as rain is concerned," said meteorologist Alberto Hernandez Unzon.

He said Wilma, a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest category of hurricane, had an unusually wide diameter of 500 miles."

********

I am bit confused here, report say it is moving NW towards Florida, shouldn't it NE.

http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm24/projectedpath_large.html

http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm24/closeupsatellite_large.html

 

[John Reynolds]

My mom, being a snowbird, reached Naples, FL, this Sunday, but turned around and headed back up to Orland to stay with my brother on Wednesday. A couple we're friends with, however, are in Cancun right now, so we're hoping they make it through OK.

 

[CMAN]

My mom, being a snowbird, reached Naples, FL, this Sunday, but turned around and headed back up to Orland to stay with my brother on Wednesday. A couple we're friends with, however, are in Cancun right now, so we're hoping they make it through OK.

I hope they are OK. I went to Cozumel this summer, and it is a very nice place. I hate to see this happen to the area. This storm looks pretty bad. On weather.com, for the Moving section, it says "Drifting Northward". I'd assume it's going less than 1 mile per hour then.

 

[DemoCoder]

Wilma killed my vacation. Wife and I were going to Playa del Carmen in about 4 weeks. It's been obliterated (travel agent told us its under water). Lucky were weren't there when it happened. Poor bastards living there are in worse shape. Their economy will be devastated due to the fact that it's so heavily dependent on tourism.

 

[Deepak]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051023/ts_nm/weather_wilma_dc

CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Wilma blasted through Mexico's Caribbean resorts on Saturday, smashing homes and killing at least six people in a slow-moving rampage that put it on course to hit Florida next.

Wilma calmed down by evening to a Category 2 hurricane on the five-stage Saffir-Simpson scale, but winds were still 100 mph (160 kph) with higher gusts. It was expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico during the night. (means it will get stronger again?)

Wilma was moving extremely slowly, raising hopes it will have weakened considerably before reaching Florida.

Mexico is used to hurricanes but Wilma is one of the biggest and slowest-moving in years, dumping intense rain. It is also unusually big with a diameter of 500 miles.

 

[Powderkeg]

Wilma was moving extremely slowly, raising hopes it will have weakened considerably before reaching Florida.

Not according to NOAA

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. WILMA IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. SOME STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE TODAY OR TONIGHT.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/231449.shtml

 

[Powderkeg]

And it continues...

DATA FROM AIR FORCE AND NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT THIS EVENING
INDICATE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE NOW INCREASED TO NEAR 110
MPH...175 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. WILMA IS A STRONG CATEGORY
TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. ADDITIONAL
STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY... AND WILMA
COULD BE NEAR CATEGORY THREE...MAJOR HURRICANE... STRENGTH AS IT
NEARS THE SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA COAST MONDAY MORNING.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/232354.shtml


Sorry for the all-caps, but I'm not retyping all of that just to get rid of them.

 

[Deepak]

http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm24/satelliteradar_large.html

 

[Deepak]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051024/ts_nm/weather_wilma_x_dc

Emergency managers estimated no more than 7 percent of the Keys' 80,000 residents evacuated, despite fears they could be stranded if Wilma washed out parts of the Overseas Highway, the only road connecting the 110-mile (175-km) island chain to mainland Florida. The last city evacuation bus left Key West on Sunday morning with only the driver and one passenger.
"All I can tell people in the Keys who are trying to ride this one out is one of these days your luck is going to run out," said Craig Fugate, Florida's director of emergency management.

*******

Should it be comulsary for everyone to evacuate?

 

[Deepak]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051024/us_nm/weather_wilma_dc

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Wilma made landfall on Florida's southwest Gulf Coast on Monday as a powerful Category 3 storm capable of causing structural damage to buildings, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Wilma, once the most powerful hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic, had winds of 125 mph (200 kph) when it came ashore around Cape Romano, near the city of Naples, the center said.

 

[Crisidelm]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051024/us_nm/weather_wilma_dc

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Wilma made landfall on Florida's southwest Gulf Coast on Monday as a powerful Category 3 storm capable of causing structural damage to buildings, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Wilma, once the most powerful hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic, had winds of 125 mph (200 kph) when it came ashore around Cape Romano, near the city of Naples, the center said.

If only there was a copyright for location names....

 

[digitalwanderer]

Ah, what a beautiful hurricane! Happy reminiscing with Cancun getting hit, and it made landfall just south of Naples where my mother-in-law and her family live.

This hurricane gets two big thumbs up from me!

 

[Crisidelm]

Ah, what a beautiful hurricane! Happy reminiscing with Cancun getting hit, and it made landfall just south of Naples where my mother-in-law and her family live.

This hurricane gets two big thumbs up from me!

Speaking of which...a relative of mine was on vacation in Cancun these days, and her family hasn't heard from her in the last 72 hours...

 

[John Reynolds]

Ah, what a beautiful hurricane! Happy reminiscing with Cancun getting hit, and it made landfall just south of Naples where my mother-in-law and her family live.

This hurricane gets two big thumbs up from me!

Diggie, this is one of those really off-colored jokes that shouldn't get made. Wilma has killed people.