Hurricane Wilma Live Thread, Part III (TS Alpha gets honorable mention too)

My son, his girlfriend and her son haven't left the Key West. He has poo-pooed the idea of leaving. I don't think I'd want to be in the Keyes for this one at all. I can't remember a storm coming into this area from the southwest. It seems that they always came in from the Atlantic. This could be disastrous.

I have close friends who live in Key West, called them tonight, they were just going in to see a movie. Making their minds up tomorrow on whether or not to flee.

I think he lives if Belize now. I know he has some property down there.

One minor upside to this, since the storm is traveling from west to east it will leave with a north wind, so temperatures are supposed to drop dramatically in its wake, which will be a great help with the no electricity situation.

I've been listening to the broadcast from Hurricane City. They confirmed what I thought about the area around Florida Bay.

Matthew is as stubborn as I am. He insists that because he has spent most of his adult life on the water that he knows what he is doing. I told him that needs a good kick in the butt, that this isn't a storm at sea.

Rita had weird stuff going on west of the eye.

Orlando weather is supposed to be 68/48 on Tuesday for high/low. (brrr)

The trough that is *now* supposed to make Wilma fly across the state is over the midwest.

It'll be interesting to see what happens the next 24hrs.

I believe a southwest wind, which is likely according to the forecast track, could build up a terrific amount of water in Florida Bay all the way up to Key Largo, where Florida Bay ends in a tight corner.

But a southwest wind at Key West will bring surge in from the Gulf Stream, which is a little better scenario. However, the last winds felt from Wilma will be northwest, I think, bringing surge in from the GOM.

Let's hope this thing will be less intense than the forecast. Bearing in mind the possibility that it could also be more intense.

I think even Miami is expecting 60's on Tuesday.

Daddy use to tell us that no matter what the meterologists said about hurricanes, prepare for the worse because they were very unpredictable. One thing he always said to watch out for was if the storm stalled over very warm water. Growing up in Charleston, I learned that no mater what the cat the storms are dangerous.

Some excerpts from weather.com:

"Some Mexican officials have stated in initial reports that the resort of Playa del Carmen has been "destroyed." Other reports indicate that Cancun and Cozumel did not fair any better."

"Maximum sustained winds in Wilma have dropped to 100 mph but with Wilma's emergence into the Gulf, any further weakening may have come to an end. In fact, some signs of restrengthening is appearing on satellite with new bursts of thunderstorms exploding around the hurricane's circulation."

"The current forecast has Wilma making landfall as a Category 2 hurricane however there is a decent possibility that Wilma could further intensify into a solid category 3 hurricane."

Hurricane Wilma Kills at Least 7 in Mexico

By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer

CANCUN, Mexico - Hurricane Wilma punished Mexico's Caribbean coastline for a second day Saturday, ripping away storefronts, peeling back roofs and forcing tourists and residents trapped in hotels and shelters to scramble to higher floors. At least seven people were killed.

On the island of Cozumel off the Yucatan peninsula coast, a navy rescue mission sighted three bodies floating down a flooding avenue and a fourth in a town square. Earlier, officials reported three other deaths.

Waves slammed into seaside pools and sent water surging over the narrow strip of sand housing Cancun's luxury hotels and raucous bars, joining the sea with the alligator-infested lagoon. Downtown, winds tore banks open, leaving automatic teller machines standing in knee-deep water.

Wilma, which had weakened to a Category 2 as it inched northward with sustained winds of 100 mph, was expected to pick up speed Sunday, sideswiping Cuba before it slams into Florida. Late Saturday, it was slowly moving back over the Caribbean Sea, and rains and winds were beginning to lessen in Cancun at nightfall.

A hurricane watch was issued Saturday for the entire southern Florida peninsula, with heavy rain from Wilma's outer bands already causing hip-deep flooding in the Fort Lauderdale. At the same time, a record 22nd tropical storm — Alpha — formed in the Atlantic.

As Wilma's eye passed over Cancun on Saturday, the air became calm and eerily electric. Some residents ventured briefly from their hiding spots to survey the flooded, debris-filled streets.

Several dozen people looted at least four convenience stores, carrying out bags of canned tuna, pasta and soda, while others dragged tables, chairs and lamps from a destroyed furniture store. Police were guarding only larger stores, including a downtown Wal-Mart and an appliance store.

An outing during the eye's calm revealed a downtown Cancun littered with glass, tree trunks and cars up to their roofs in water. The only cleanup crew visible consisted of two workers using saws to break up a tangle of tree branches. The front half of a Burger King had collapsed, and at least one gas station had its roof blown away.

State and federal officials said they had little information on damage because Wilma's winds made reconnaissance almost impossible.

Yucatan Gov. Patricio Patron told Formato 21 radio that one person was killed by a falling tree, but he offered no details. And in Playa del Carmen, two people died from injuries they sustained Friday when a gas tank exploded during the storm, Quintana Roo state officials said.

The storm earlier killed 13 people in Jamaica and Haiti.

Quintana Roo State Civil Protection Director Maj. Jose Nemecio said a few emergency crews were able to begin distributing emergency supplies in Playa del Carmen on Saturday. But there were few reports on the overall extent of the damage.

"We really know nothing. There are no telephones, no cell phones," he said. "We have no news from Cancun, Playa del Carmen or Cozumel. I think this is going to be a catastrophic situation."

Added Quintana Roo Gov. Felix Gonzalez Cantu: "Never in the history of Quintana Roo have we had a storm like this."

On the island of Cozumel, which has been isolated since weathering the brunt of the storm on Friday, fruit and vegetable salesman Jorge Ham, 26, told The Associated Press by phone that winds had dropped significantly. He saw no catastrophic damage during a brief tour of downtown Saturday.

"There are broken windows, downed trees, fallen power lines, but nothing else," he said. "People have taken shelter."

In Playa del Carmen, to the south of Cancun, screaming winds flattened wood-and-tarpaper houses and sent water tanks and plywood sheets flying.

In Cancun, the storm's angry winds ripped roofing off luxury hotels and knocked out windows, filling rooms and shelters with water and forcing some evacuees to seek higher ground. Others slept with plastic sheeting as bedding.

The wind ripped part of the ceiling off a gymnasium-turned-shelter, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 people. Stacy Presley, a 22-year-old honeymooner from Milwaukee, was among them.

She and 120 others were moved to a kindergarten where evacuees were forced to use plastic water bottles instead of bathrooms and sleep on miniature desks nearly submerged in rising flood waters. There was also no food.

On Saturday, she and her husband fled when the winds died down.

"There were people getting sick from the urine on the floor," she said. "We had to do something, so we took off. We were running through flooded streets, passing downed power lines."

She ended up at another school sheltering more than 2,000 people. It had mats to sleep on, emergency officials and supplies.

Nearby, Loni Steingraph, 40, of Austin, Texas, praised the shelter, saying: "I booked a four-star hotel, I didn't know it would include a four-star shelter too."

Hotel workers pushed furniture up against windows, but the force of the wind blasted through the improvised barriers.

In the streets, office furniture and broken glass bobbed in water that sloshed between buildings. Residents watched the debris float by from upstairs balconies. Buildings shook in the wind as if earthquakes were hitting them, terrifying tourists and residents waiting out the storm in sweltering, dark shelters.

Benjamin Rodriguez, 49, of Cleveland, spent the night in a classroom with his 11-month-old granddaughter. He and several others had to lean against a door that the wind kept shoving open.

"I feel for the citizens here because we get to go home eventually," said Rodriguez, who came with 32 family members for his son's wedding. "They have to stay and rebuild everything that was destroyed."

President Vicente Fox planned to travel to the affected region on Sunday. In a taped address to the nation, he said that, while the Mexican government was taking care of thousands of stranded tourists, it hadn't forgotten its citizens.

"Make no mistake. Our priority, our job ... is with our own people," he said.

The army and navy was already preparing emergency supplies, including food, water, medicine and roofing, in various southern cities. Fox said it will be sent in as soon as possible.

The U.S. Embassy was sending consular officials to shelters Sunday, an effort to help people prepare for the evacuation of some 30,000 tourists after the storm.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Wilma was moving north near 3 mph with maximum sustained winds near 100 mph. It was located about 50 miles north of Cancun, Mexico or about 375 miles west-southwest of Key West.

Even as it battered Mexico, the storm's outer bands whipped the western tip of Cuba, where the government evacuated more than 500,000 people. A tornado spun off from the storm flattened 20 homes and several tobacco-curing huts.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Alpha formed Saturday in the Caribbean Sea, setting the record for the most number of storms in an Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters said. Alpha is the season's 22nd tropical storm and marks the first time a letter from the Greek alphabet has been used because the list of storm names is used up. The previous record of 21 storms stood since 1933.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Alpha had sustained winds of about 50 mph, and was located about 55 miles southwest of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and moving northwest at about 14 mph, the Hurricane Center said.

Authorities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic warned of deadly flash floods and mudslides from Tropical Storm Alpha. Meteorologist Ignacio Feliz of the Dominican weather service said authorities expected heavy rain but had not yet ordered evacuations.

___

Associated Press writers Israel Leal in Cancun; Vanessa Arrington in Pinar del Rio, Cuba; Lisa J. Adams and Niko Price in Mexico City; and David Royse in Key West, Florida contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Hurricane Wilma Intermediate Advisory Number 31a
Statement as of 1:00 am CDT on October 23, 2005

...Wilma drifting northeastward off the northeast coast of
Yucatan...has not strengthened yet...

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for all of the Florida Keys...
including the Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay.  A Hurricane Warning is
also in effect along the Florida West Coast from Longboat Key
southward...and along the Florida East Coast from Jupiter Inlet
southward...including Lake Okeechobee.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect along the Florida East Coast
north of Jupiter Inlet to Titusville.  Hurricane warnings will
likely be required for this area Sunday morning.

 
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect along the Florida West Coast
north of Longboat Key to Steinhatchee river.

 
A tropical storm watch is in effect along the East Coast of
Florida from north of Titusville northward to Fernandina Beach.

At 1 am CDT...0600z...the government of Mexico has discontinued the
Hurricane Warning south of Punta gruesa...and discontinued the
Tropical Storm Warning and Hurricane Watch west of San Felipe.  A
Hurricane Warning remains in effect from San Felipe to Punta gruesa
on the Yucatan Peninsula...including Cozumel and the nearby
islands.

 
A Hurricane Warning remains in effect for the Cuban provinces of
Ciudad de la Habana...la Habana...and Pinar del Rio.  A Tropical
Storm Warning is in effect for the Isle of Youth.  A Hurricane
Watch remains in effect for the province of Matanzas.

 
A Hurricane Watch remains in effect for the northwestern  Bahamas...
including the Abacos...Andros Island...Berry Islands...
Bimini...Eleuthera...Grand Bahama Island...and New Providence.

 
For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.

 
At 1 am CDT...0600z...the center of Hurricane Wilma was located
near latitude 21.8 north...longitude  86.8 west or about 55
miles... 85 km north of Cancun Mexico.  This is also about  370
miles... 600 km...west-southwest of Key West Florida.

 
Wilma is drifting northeastward and an increase in forward speed is
expected later today.

Maximum sustained winds are near 100 mph...160 km/hr...with higher
gusts.  Wilma is a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
scale.  Some strengthening is possible today.

 
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to  70 miles...110 km...
from the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up
to 200 miles...325 km.

 
An Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft reported a minimum central
pressure of 962 mb...28.41 inches.

 
Storm surge flooding of 8 to 13 ft above normal tide levels is
possible along the southwest Florida coast and near and to the
south of where the center of Wilma makes landfall.  Storm surge
flooding of 5 to 8 ft above normal is possible in the Florida Keys
and Florida Bay...as well as in Lake Okeechobee.  Storm surge
flooding along the Yucatan Peninsula and the nearby islands should
subside as Wilma moves away.

 
Wilma is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 10
to 15 inches through Sunday across portions of western Cuba and the
Yucatan Peninsula... with isolated maximum storm total amounts
approaching 50 inches.  Rainfall across southern Florida including
the Keys through Tuesday is expected to be 4 to 8 inches... with
isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches possible.

 
Large swells generated by Wilma will continue to propagate into the
eastern Gulf of Mexico.  These swells could affect portions of the
northern Gulf Coast tonight and Sunday.

 
Isolated tornadoes are possible over the Florida Peninsula and the
Florida Keys during the next couple of days.

 
Repeating the 1 am CDT position...21.8 N... 86.8 W.   Movement...
drifting northeastward.  Maximum sustained winds...100 mph. 
Minimum central pressure... 962 mb.

 
The next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
4 am CDT.

 
Forecaster Pasch

$$

Hurricane Local Statement

AMZ610-630-650-651-670-671-FLZ063-066>075-GMZ656-657-676-231030-

HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT...CORRECTED WATCH/WARNING SECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
1200 AM EDT SUN OCT 23 2005

...HURRICANE WARNINGS ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA...

...AREAS AFFECTED...
THIS STATEMENT APPLIES TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA AND
THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS: COLLIER...GLADES...HENDRY...PALM
BEACH...BROWARD...MIAMI-DADE AND MAINLAND MONROE.

...NEW INFORMATION...
UPDATED WARNINGS...STORM INFORMATION...AND LOCAL IMPACT SECTIONS.

...WATCHES/WARNINGS...
A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE FLORIDA
KEYS...INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS AND FLORIDA BAY.  A HURRICANE
WARNING IS ALSO NOW IN EFFECT ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST FROM
LONGBOAT KEY SOUTHWARD...AND ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST FROM
JUPITER INLET SOUTHWARD...INCLUDING LAKE OKEECHOBEE.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WARNING IS ALSO NOW IN EFFECT FOR PALM
BEACH...BROWARD...MIAMI DADE...GLADES...HENDRY...COLLIER...AND
MAINLAND MONROE COUNTIES.

...STORM INFORMATION...
AT 11 PM EDT...HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 21.8 NORTH
AND LONGITUDE 86.9 WEST OR ABOUT 440 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NAPLES.
WILMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR  3 MPH... 6 KM/HR.  A TURN
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT A FASTER FORWARD SPEED IS EXPECTED ON SUNDAY.

ALL LOCAL IMPACTS DEPICTED BELOW IN THIS STATEMENT ARE HIGHLY
DEPENDANT ON THE FORECAST TRACK...SIZE...TIMING..AND INTENSITY IN
WILMA'S FORECAST. ANY DEVIATION FROM THE FORECAST COULD ALTER THE
DEPICTED LOCAL IMPACTS. THEREFORE...RESIDENTS SHOULD STAY TUNED AS
THIS STATEMENT IS UPDATED EVERY 3 TO 6 HOURS.

...PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
HURRICANE WILMA IS FORECAST TO AFFECT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BEGINNING
SUNDAY EVENING AND ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA PARTICULARLY THROUGH MONDAY
AFTERNOON. THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY AS FAR AS THE
INTENSITY...TIMING...AND EXACT TRACK OF WILMA AS IT APPROACHES THE
FLORIDA PENINSULA. HOWEVER...A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT
HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS IN
THIS CASE. RESIDENTS ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA ARE ADVISED TO PUT
THEIR PREPAREDNESS PLANS INTO PLACE NOT LATER THAN EARLY ON SUNDAY.
PLEASE STAY ABREAST OF THE LATEST INFORMATION FROM THE LOCAL SOUTH
FLORIDA WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE AND THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER.

IN COLLIER COUNTY...A MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER HAS ALREADY BEEN
ISSUED FOR RESIDENTS AND VISITORS SOUTH AND WEST OF U.S. HIGHWAY 41
INCLUDING MARCO ISLAND...EVERGLADES CITY...AND A LARGE PART OF
NAPLES. THIS MANDATORY EVACUATION SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY 8 AM EDT
SUNDAY. SHELTERS WILL OPEN AT 8 AM EDT SUNDAY. A VOLUNTARY
EVACUATION IS RECOMMENDED FOR THE REST OF COLLIER COUNTY.

IN HENDRY COUNTY...A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION OF MOBILE HOME RESIDENTS
AND RESIDENTS OF LOW LYING FLOOD PRONE AREAS IS RECOMMENDED.
SHELTERS WILL BE OPEN AT 3 PM SUNDAY.

IN GLADES COUNTY...SHELTERS WILL BE OPENING SUNDAY EVENING. A
DECISION ON THE EXTENT OF THE EVACUATIONS WILL BE MADE ON SUNDAY.

IN BROWARD COUNTY...MANDATORY EVACUATION OF MOBILE HOME RESIDENTS
WILL BEGIN AT NOON SUNDAY. SIX SHELTERS WILL OPEN AT NOON SUNDAY
ALONG WITH A PET-FRIENDLY SHELTER.

IN PALM BEACH COUNTY...GENERAL EVACUATION OF RESIDENTS IN
SUBSTANDARD HOUSING...LOW LYING AREAS...MOBILE HOMES...AND
RECREATIONAL VEHICLES WILL COMMENCE AT 1 PM EDT SUNDAY. SPECIAL
NEEDS SHELTERS WILL OPEN AT 10 AM EDT SUNDAY. REGULAR SHELTERS WILL
OPEN AT 1 PM EDT SUNDAY.

IN MAINLAND MONROE COUNTY...EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK IS CLOSED AND
PRELIMINARY EVACUATION HAS ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED AT FLAMINGO.

IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY...BISCAYNE NATIONAL PARK IS CLOSED. DECISIONS
ON EVACUATION RECOMMENDATIONS AND SHELTERS WILL BE MADE EARLY SUNDAY.

...STORM SURGE FLOOD AND STORM TIDE IMPACTS...
AT THIS STAGE...IT IS TOO EARLY TO PROVIDE DETAILED INFORMATION ON
WHAT THE SURGE IMPACT WILL BE AS IT IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE EXACT
TRACK...SIZE AND INTENSITY OF THE STORM. HOWEVER...A POTENTIAL STORM
TIDE OF 9 TO 12 FEET IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE COLLIER AND MAINLAND
MONROE COUNTY COASTS...FROM BONITA BEACH SOUTH THROUGH
FLAMINGO...ASSUMING THE HURRICANE MAKES LANDFALL OR APPROACHES THE
COAST AS A CATEGORY 2 EARLY MONDAY MORNING SHORTLY AFTER THE TIME OF
HIGH TIDE WHICH IS EXPECTED AROUND 4 TO 5 AM MONDAY MORNING. THIS
WOULD LIKELY RESULT IN FLOODING OF AREAS SOUTH AND WEST OF TAMIAMI
TRAIL. OVER LAKE OKEECHOBEE...A STORM SURGE OF 7 TO 9 FEET ABOVE
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS IS POSSIBLE. ON THE EAST COAST...STORM TIDE OF 2
TO 4 FEET ABOVE TIDE LEVEL IS POSSIBLE OVER NORTHERN SECTIONS OF
BISCAYNE BAY IF THE CENTER OF WILMA MOVES AS FORECAST.

...WIND IMPACTS...
BASED ON THE CURRENT FORECAST...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE
EXPECTED TO BEGIN OVER SOUTHWEST FLORIDA SUNDAY EVENING...THEN
SPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF SOUTH FLORIDA LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. HURRICANE
FORCE WINDS MAY START AFFECTING THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA GULF COAST
DURING THE EARLY PRE-DAWN MONDAY MORNING HOURS...THEN ACROSS MUCH OF
THE INTERIOR AND EASTERN SECTIONS AROUND AND SHORTLY AFTER DAYBREAK
MONDAY BEFORE BEGINNING TO SUBSIDE LATE MORNING MORNING WITH TROPICAL
STORM WINDS SUBSIDING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. DAMAGE TO MOBILE
HOMES IS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY IF UNANCHORED. SOME BUILDING DAMAGE
TO ROOFS...WINDOWS...AND DOORS IS ALSO POSSIBLE. LARGE TREES MAY BE
UPROOTED WHICH WOULD LIKELY CAUSE DOWNED POWER LINES...RESULTING IN
EXTENDED POWER OUTAGES ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA.

...PROBABILITY OF HURRICANE/TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS...FACTORING IN
UNCERTAINTIES IN THE FORECAST TRACK...INTENSITY...AND SIZE OF THE
STORM...THERE IS A BETTER THAN 80 PERCENT CHANCE THAT MAINLAND SOUTH
FLORIDA WILL EXPERIENCE TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS...WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 39 MPH...THROUGH MONDAY. THE CHANCE THAT MAINLAND SOUTH FLORIDA
WILL EXPERIENCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH IS FROM 50 TO 65 PERCENT.

...LOCAL MARINE IMPACTS...
OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS OF 35 TO 45 KNOTS ARE EXPECTED
TO AFFECT THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COASTAL WATERS BEGINNING EARLY
SUNDAY EVENING WITH SEAS BUILDING TO AS HIGH AS 16 FEET
OFFSHORE...AND WINDS POSSIBLY REACHING HURRICANE FORCE LATE SUNDAY
NIGHT. SURF ALONG THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST WILL BECOME
INCREASINGLY ROUGH ON SUNDAY...BECOMING VERY ROUGH SUNDAY EVENING
AND SUNDAY NIGHT. SIGNIFICANT BEACH EROSION IS LIKELY AS THE
HURRICANE APPROACHES THE COAST...AND RIP CURRENTS WILL ALSO BE
LIKELY SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ACROSS LAKE OKEECHOBEE...TROPICAL STORM
WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN SPREADING INTO THE LAKE AROUND MIDNIGHT
SUNDAY NIGHT WITH HURRICANE CONDITIONS BEGINNING AROUND DAYBREAK
MONDAY. HURRICANE CONDITIONS SHOULD START SUBSIDING LATE MONDAY
MORNING WITH TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS SUBSIDING THROUGH THE EARLY
AFTERNOON HOURS. ALONG THE ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHEAST
FLORIDA...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS WILL BEGIN SPREADING THROUGH THE
EARLY MORNING HOURS ON MONDAY BEFORE SUBSIDING THROUGHOUT THE
AFTERNOON HOURS. HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE MOST LIKELY OFF THE PALM
BEACH AND BROWARD COASTAL WATERS BEGINNING AROUND MONDAY MORNING
BEFORE BEGINNING TO SUBSIDE BY NOON OR EARLY AFTERNOON.

MARINERS SHOULD START MAKING PLANS TO PROTECT MARINE CRAFT ON ALL
COASTS ALLOWING PLENTY OF EXTRA LINE FOR THE EXPECTED STORM SURGE
ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA GULF COAST AND LAKE
OKEECHOBEE.

...LOCAL FLOOD IMPACTS...
STORM TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS
PARTS OF SOUTH FLORIDA THROUGH MONDAY...WITH LOCALIZED AMOUNTS IN
EXCESS OF 10 INCHES POSSIBLE. A FLOOD WATCH WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED ON
SUNDAY. MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON WHAT THE FLOOD IMPACT WILL BE
ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA WILL BE PROVIDED IN FURTHER UPDATES.

...LOCAL TORNADO IMPACTS...
TROPICAL CYCLONES MOVING INTO THE FLORIDA PENINSULA FROM THE GULF OF
MEXICO HAVE A HISTORY OF BEING PROLIFIC TORNADO
PRODUCERS...PARTICULARLY WHEN INTERACTING WITH A SOUTHWARD MOVING
COLD FRONT. HURRICANE ISBELL PRODUCED AT LEAST 13 TORNADOES ON A
PATH SIMILAR TO THE FORECAST WILMA PATH IN OCTOBER 1964. ALL OF
SOUTH FLORIDA HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH
SUNDAY WITH THIS THREAT INCREASING LATER SUNDAY...AND COULD BE
SIGNIFICANT AS THE STORM APPROACHES THE STATE AND RAIN BANDS BEGIN
IMPACTING THE LOCAL AREA.

...NEXT UPDATE...
THE NEXT UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING.

$$

PS

Well this sucks. FR doesn't seem to be working right for me, allthe cable news channels stop live news at 10 pm my time, what's a girl to do?

The last post I can see was over an hour ago. Am I not logged in correctly?

I see you.

Thank God! (o:

Something it wrong with my timestamps here I guess. It happened last night too.

It does amaze me that we don't have a 24 hour cable news show tho. Headline News doesn't count. It is unwatchable.

We all decided that we are sick and tired of hurricanes and so we are boycotting them. ;)

Excellent plan. I must have missed that memo.

Drudge is taking his weekend nap too.