AT 11 AM EDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE CHARLEY WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 25.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 82.8 WEST OR ABOUT 145 MILES SOUTH OF SARASOTA FLORIDA.CHARLEY IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 18 MPH AND A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST WITH AN INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED IS EXPECTED TODAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 110 MPH...175 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE PRIOR TO LANDFALL ON THE FLORIDA WEST COAST THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING.
Here's the 1:00 PM advisory:
AT 1 PM EDT...1700Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE CHARLEY WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 25.7 NORTH...LONGITUDE 82.5 WEST OR ABOUT 70 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF FORT MYERS FLORIDA.CHARLEY IS NOW MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 20 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY WITH AN INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED. ON THIS TRACK...THE CENTER OF THE HURRICANE SHOULD REACH THE COAST IN THE VICINITY OF CHARLOTTE HARBOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
RECENT REPORTS FROM A RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT THE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 125 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS...CATEGORY THREE ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. THESE STRONGEST WINDS ARE CONFINED TO A SMALL AREA WITHIN A FEW MILES FROM CHARLEYS CENTER.
Here's a 2:00 PM advisory:
REPEATING THE 2 PM EDT POSITION...26.0 N... 82.4 W. MOVEMENT TOWARD...NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 20 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...145 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 954 MB.
Ask them which Bush brother stopped them from paying attention to the advisories, and tied them so they couldn't get out of the path of the storm?
The national weather service saw the change at 1:00 PM, and put out an advisory, it went mostly ignored.
Considering that Punta Gorda is smack dab in between Ft. Myers and Venice, I'd say that the NWC called it right OVER TWENTY FOUR HOURS BEFORE LANDFALL.