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

[HelloooClareece]

892 mb.Unbelievable.

[sordidmesh]

Did Rita or Katrina get that low?

[Strategerist]

Nope.

[steveegg]

The latest from the Hurricane Hunters -

000
106 
URNT12 KNHC 190648
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 19/06:11:10Z
B. 16 deg 58 min N
  082 deg 11 min W
C. 700 mb 2132 m
D. NA  kt
E. NA  deg     nm
F. 202 deg 168 kt
G. 109 deg 003 nm
H. EXTRAP  892 mb
I.  10 C/ 3058 m
J.  24 C/ 3034 m
K.  11 C/ NA
L. CLOSED
M. C2
N. 12345/ 7
O. 0.02 / 1  nm
P. AF308 0724A WILMA        OB 12
MAX FL WIND 168 KT SE QUAD 06:10:20 Z
SLP EXTRAP FROM 700 MB

[HelloooClareece]

No. Gilbert was the lowest as I recall at 888 mb. Not too far to go. Wow.

[Termite_Commander]

Holy cow! (again)

[Termite_Commander]

They just said on The Weather Channel that Wilma's eye is 2 miles across.

[laz]

Looks like Wilma is determined to outdo her sisters Katrina and Rita. Just when you think this hurricane season can't pull any more surprises, it does.

But you know what worries me even more? I wonder what next year is going to be like.

[Petronski]

Why would Karl Rove do that?

[steveegg]

Significant changes from the previous eye fix 1:39 ago -

• Max flight-level winds up 6 knots, but at a higher altitude (where winds are somewhat less and in an odd quadrant; usually, the strongest winds are in the NE quadrant)
• Pressure down 9 mb to the lowest of the season, and only 4 mb above the Atlantic record
• Movement west-northwest (293 degrees) at roughly 11 mph.

[steveegg]

They just said on The Weather Channel that Wilma's eye is 2 miles across.

Forgot to mention that in my significant changes post. We've now gone from an 8 nm eye to a 4 nm eye to a 2 nm eye.

[laz]

They just said on The Weather Channel that Wilma's eye is 2 miles across.

Talk about a pinhole! No wonder she's so intense.

Well, if she keeps this up, Wilma will break another record: first hurricane with an eye narrower than Ted Kennedy.

[steveegg]

Well, if she keeps this up, Wilma will break another record: first hurricane with an eye narrower than Ted Kennedy.

Actually, she already broke that one; The Swimmer is 2.5 nm wide :-)

[RavenATB]

I don't claim any expertise in this arena, but after living in FL for the past two years, and evacuating twice (Ivan and Dennis), I've heard so much about how the warm gulf waters will feed a hurricane to make it stronger. As I look at the current satellite maps of the water temperature (surface) in the gulf, the water doesn't look too darned warm. Up here in the panhandle the charts look as if the water is in the high 60s. If that storm heads more northerly than currently predicted wouldn't one expect it to weaken as it progresses into the colder water?

[steveegg]

Unless this one's aimed at Castro, this ain't Rove's doing.

[HelloooClareece]

I wonder what next year is going to be like

1933 was as active as this year but the following year it was relatively quiet so hopefully not too bad. I say that with all of the optimism a FL Panhandler can muster.

[buickmackane]

My sentiments exactly, Laz -- I'm leaving Louisiana ASAP. I don't intend to be around for next year's hurricane season!

[steveegg]

1933 was as active as this year but the following year it was relatively quiet so hopefully not too bad. I say that with all of the optimism a FL Panhandler can muster.

I'll posit that 1933 was busier. They didn't have satellites and hurricane-hunter planes back then, so unless a hurricane blasted onto land where people were or a ship blundered into it, nobody knew.

[Termite_Commander]

Looks like they didn't do a very good job with predictions on this chart.

[laz]

Why would Karl Rove do that?

Can't be Rove. It must be those Japanese gangsters. Looks like they got the hang of it now.