Hurricane Wilma Live Thread (As of 2:30 am EDT, Wilma is a Category 5 with 175-mph winds )

NHC - NOAA ^ | 18 October 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Wilma has formed in the NW Caribbean Sea. The NHC forecast indicates she will emerge into the Gulf of Mexico as a major Category Three storm. Current forecase models indicate a Florida peninsula landfall.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 0500, 0800, 1100 etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 0500, 1100, 1700, 2300 ET
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Wilma Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only
Extra Large Miami Radar Broadband only
Extra Large Key West Radar Broadband only
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Experimental Radar Still Image
Key West Experimental Radar Still Image

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

Get ready, Florida.

Get ready Florida?

How about "get ready taxpayers, be ready to shell out another $300 billion to welfare groupies from the famous "Federal Government Giveaway Billions To People Who Have Been On Welfare Their Whole Life Anyway" team. This begging for charitable contributions and government handing out billions to me is an outrage. Taxpayers have insurance. Those that do not pay taxes get welfare benefits anyway. Just exactly where does all this charity money and federal money go to since insurance and/or FEMA pays for those insured and those who are not insured are on the government dole anyway?????????-

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

Get ready, Florida.

Get ready Florida?

How about "get ready taxpayers, be ready to shell out another $300 billion to welfare groupies from the famous "Federal Government Giveaway Billions To People Who Have Been On Welfare Their Whole Life Anyway" team. This begging for charitable contributions and government handing out billions to me is an outrage. Taxpayers have insurance. Those that do not pay taxes get welfare benefits anyway. Just exactly where does all this charity money and federal money go to since insurance and/or FEMA pays for those insured and those who are not insured are on the government dole anyway?????????-

[blam]

"Any one who lives on the Gulf coast needs to be prepared and not wait untill the last minute to see if it is going to turn."

You are correct. I'm sitting on ready over here, thanks.

[kimmie7]

Could you provide a link to that? I googled his name and "blog" but got several results. I'm not nearly caffienated enough to find the right one!
TIA

[dawn53]

My son and I were just watching the Weather Channel update on the storm. They showed pictures of flags whipping in the breeze on Cayman, then they showed a quick video of waves breaking on a reef over a shipwreck...we both yelled, "That's our shipwreck." It was the wreck that sat on the reef behind our complex, LOL.

Weather there looks gusty but evidently the high winds of this storm are in a very small radius around the center.

That should be good news for everybody, except for those who take the direct hit.

[xcamel]

Not "if" but where.

[sheikdetailfeather]

I am in Fla. and I do find it of interest that this storm will cause such problems north of us. I think vision is everything and FR helps all on this board be prepared.

[Txsleuth]

bttt

[No Blue States]

I didnt believe my wife when she said Wilma was a Cat5 this morning. Wow. Stay safe Floridians!

[agrace]

Me too, turned on the radio to hear the conservative guy out of Pittsburgh (Jim Quinn) say something about Wilma being a Republican hurricane because "it's a cat 5 and headed for your grandmother" in FL. I thought he was joking too. I mean I KNEW he was joking :) but I thought the whole thing was a joke. My goodness.

[Sam Cree]

Your point is well taken, but those of us in FL need to get ready anyway; it's no fun waiting for a hurricane strike. I hate these things.

[piperpilot]

If I lived anywhere along the Gulf Coast right now, I would seriously be out of there already.

My folks live in Southwest Florida and have been unable to find accommodations that would accept their dog. They're now up to a radius of 5 hours away from where they live and still trying to find a hotel that will take pets. There is no way that they are going to leave the dog. He's 10 years old and deathly afraid of even normal thunderstorms.

[Rebelbase]

Wilma's got the tightest eye I've ever seen on a hurricane.

[PatriotGirl827]

BUMP

[exhaustedmomma]

We have roof damage from Rita. Gas shortage was big problem... except for diesel. We were well prepared so didn't face that... people got really nasty however! Did you happen to hear the President's talking about quarantining cities and regions of the country in event of the bird flu pandemic? That was unnerving... creepy.

[SamAdams76]

Bastardi's blog is hidden in AccuWeather's premium pages. In other words, you have to pay $10 a month to have access. I subscribe because I'm a weather nerd and I love playing around with GFS models and getting the same info that the "pros" get. Joe forbids his readers posting his blogs verbatim elsewhere and since he knows of me personally (and I strongly suspect he's a member here), I wouldn't chance it!

[kimmie7]

I'm glad you wouldn't chance it. I didn't realize it was a paid site, or I wouldn't have asked. ;-)

I do, however, love his forecast style and really respect his opinion/expertise. That's why I was so ready to look for it. ;-)

[Frank_Discussion]

Acck! I haven't been watching this storm - what a SHOCK!

[kx9088]

So they're willing to risk their lives for a 10 year old dog?

Why not just drive? Sleep in their car somewhere. It's probably going to be better than trying to ride out a Cat4/5 storm, if it hits at that level.

And to anyone that says "Oh, it will weaken a lot before it hits land...blah blah blah...". I think one thing we learned from this season alone, thus far, is that predictions are almost worthless this far out. Life is not worth a silly assumption.

[exhaustedmomma]

Get ready Florida?

How about "get ready taxpayers, be ready to shell out another $300 billion

ROFLOL!!!