That's what I'm bracing myself for. My relatives keep hearing Cat 2 on tv and don't grasp the concept of Wilma feeling like a category higher south of the eye. I think they really believed the reports a few days ago that we'd get a Cat 1 or even just a TS. I never believed that.
My real question concerns the degree to which forward velocity adds to the forward right quadrant winds. At the nuts and bolts level, does the Vortex data measure storm relative wind or do they measure earth relative wind?
That's what they're using to posit the NHC projections. If they measure storm relative winds, then that will add to the forward velocity. If they measure earth relative winds, it's already factored in.
You know, since you mention it, I suppose it is possible that the forward speed of Andrew, 20 mph, helped raise it to a cat 5.
However, if we are far away enough from the center of this one, it will help greatly tomorrow. Every mile can count. There will be tornados, of course. I'm generally not pleased!
Yikes. I'm fairly comfortable with our preparations, all our Western exposure is protected. Both boarded up and there's several 4' raised burms. I still think I'm going to lose the screened patio, screen and supports. The roof's an older roof so I'll pray for the best. The rest of the house is solid CBS (I know, I spent this morning drilling through it.) And finally we have two refuge areas if we have a breech.
It may be time for a beer or six...
Wilma and Isabel are going to be pretty similar in their Cat 2 impacts from what I can see. Former Cat 5 storms with very large eyes and large windfields to push a lot of surge and provide extended periods of strong winds.