The other question is how much did the cyclic timing of eyewall replacement as it related to landfall have to do with the fact that the storm dropped in intensity? If the storm had been "off-cycle" by three or four hours and not yet ready to replace eyewall, would it have remained a "5"?
The key for meteorologists is to understand, as well as they can, what caused the erosion from a "5" to a "4"? The same thing with the jog east.
goood pts.