Posted on 10/24/2005 2:18:01 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Category Three Major Hurricane Wilma is barreling toward the Southwest Florida coastline. The storm is packing wind speeds of 125mph, moving NW at 20mph, with an enormous eye 65 miles in diameter. Landfall is anticipated shortly in Collier County between 6:00 and 7:00AM ET.
Storm surge flooding of 9 feet to 17 feet is possible along the coast near and to the south of where Wilma makes landfall. Storm surge of 5 to 8 feet is predicted for the Keys. The storm has spawned tornados throughout the Florida peninsula since yesterday evening.
The following links are self-updating:
Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 0500, 0800, 1100 etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 0500, 1100, 1700, 2300 ET
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track
Wilma Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida
Florida Department of Emergency Management
Images:
Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only
Extra Large Miami Radar Broadband only
Extra Large Key West Radar Broadband only
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Radar Still Image w/watches warnings
Melbourne Radar Still Image w/watches warnings
Key West Radar Still Image w/watches warnings
Tampa Bay Radar Still image w/watches warnings
Streaming Video:
WBBH-TV/WZVN-TV Ft. Myers (WMP): http://waterbc.wm.llnwd.net/waterbc_netvideo
WESH-TV/DT Orlando/Daytona Beach (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:24028.ram
WFTV-TV/DT Orlando (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:20361.ram
WKMG-TV/DT Orlando (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:23942.ram
WPBF-TV/DT West Palm Beach (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/7883/live/reflector:24035.ram
WSVN-TV/DT Miami (WMP): http://216.242.118.140/windowsmedia/asx/wsvn_broadband.asx
WTVJ-TV/DT Miami: http://nbc6.feedroom.com/iframeset.jsp?ord=381015
WPLG-TV/DT Miami (RP): http://mfile.akamai.com/8660/live/reflector:23941.ram
WFOR-TV/DT Miami (WMP): http://wfor.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=612&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8&Contract_ID=2&Obj_ID={obj_id}
WTSP-TV/DT St. Petersburg/Tampa (WMP): mms://wmbcast.gannett.speedera.net/wmbcast.gannett/wmbcast_gannett_sep252004_1915_64623
Hurricane City (Real Player) - http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram
ABCNews Now (Real Player) - http://reallive.stream.aol.com/ramgen/redundant/abc/now_hi.rm
Additional Resources:
Pet Friendly Florida Shelter Info
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City
CrownWeather.com
Category | Wind Speed | Barometric Pressure | Storm Surge | Damage Potential |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tropical Depression |
< 39 mph < 34 kts |
Minimal | ||
Tropical Storm |
39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts |
Minimal | ||
Hurricane 1 (Weak) |
74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts |
28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more |
4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m |
Minimal damage to vegetation |
Hurricane 2 (Moderate) |
96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts |
28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb |
6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m |
Moderate damage to houses |
Hurricane 3 (Strong) |
111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts |
27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb |
9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m |
Extensive damage to small buildings |
Hurricane 4 (Very strong) |
131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts |
27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb |
13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m |
Extreme structural damage |
Hurricane 5 (Devastating) |
Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts |
Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb |
Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m |
Catastrophic building failures possible |
Previous Threads:
Hurricane Wilma Live Thread, Part III
Hurricane Wilma Part II
Hurricane Wilma Live Thread
Tropical Storm Wilma
Tropical Depression #24
The Mystery of the Eye (Wilma)
On the page ... hit "click for video" .. weird.
Looks like the hurricane was saying it knew it was on channel 2. Spooky. It is Halloween isn't it? BWAAHAHAHAHAHA.
Hooray! Very glad you and your family are safe, and in good spirits. Prayers answered.
Glad to hear you made it through. Not surprised at the extent of the damage, though. That western eyewall hit Broward and Palm Beach hard. By the time it reached those counties, Wilma's eye was mostly over the Atlantic and convection had re-organized and intensified. It was bad enough down here in Cutler Ridge, and it had to be much worse farther north.
Oh, and that prediction/flame war with the meteorologist? That was you, right Laz? Well, you won...we got slammed! If it wasn't for our storm preps - YIKES!
And the scary thing is that many, many people didn't prepare. We can never underestimate a hurricane again!
Hi Rob, very glad to hear from you again, glad you came through OK!
Yeah, that was me. And yes, I won... but I wish I hadn't.
I think a lot of people, hoping for the best, believed the forecasters who predicted Wilma would be a Cat 1 or even a TS by the time she arrived in Florida. But having hoped for the best, they neglected to prepare for the worst, and they got caught with their pants down.
Others didn't prepare because they simply never do, leaving it to the government to take care of them after the storm. These are the types that showed up for ice and water less than twenty-four hours after Wilma left.
Nobody along the Gulf Coast should take a hurricane that reaches Cat 5 lightly, no matter how much it's predicted to weaken by the time it reaches them. Chances are, it'll strike them as a Cat 3, as Katrina, Rita, and now Wilma have shown.
Others didn't prepare because they simply never do, leaving it to the government to take care of them after the storm. These are the types that showed up for ice and water less than twenty-four hours after Wilma left.
Well stated. Did any of you see the interview that occured I think on Channel 7 news? It was one of the best interview questions I'd seen because it was so unexpected from what I thought was a liberal group of newscasters.
Some lady was standing in one of those Gubmint Cheez lines and complaining how the timing was so messed up. She was right, but she was blowing it way out of proportion. She said "This is New Orleans all over again!" and the commentary at the station was "Hey Bob, ask her if she takes any responibility for not preparing? Why doesn't she have any water or ice...". I was surprised even more when "Bob" comes right back to the lady and repeats the question to the lady. The woman sputters on live TV and says something like "It shouldn't be like this!". I was in shock over the whole interview. "They shoot, they score!" I kept thinking.
So anyway, thank God we were as prepared as we were.
Catch you all later and good night!
I heard Jeb say to a reporter, "It's not FEMA's responsibility, it's ours. How much trouble is it to have a 5 day supply of water on hand anyway?" Fabulous!
But why in the world couldn't the ones who had no reserve water just fill up every container in the house with tap water Sunday night? I mean, really!
We just got power up about an hour ago! Yippee! It was like a nine day camping trip you couldn't leave! My cable does not seem to be working, but oddly, my cable internet is! Who cares. If I have intenet all is well. We fared well, some vegitation damage (big deal) and some torn screens (again, big deal) and my mailbox door flew away. I have not had time to read thru this thread, I hope all other Freepers are well and have their power back. One thing tho....I need a camp stove for next year! I cannot live without coffee!!!
And...this whole thing reminded me why the US is the best place in the world to live. God Bless the USA!
susie
Thanks for the prayers! We did fine, just no power for 9 days. I didn't miss anything nearly as much as I missed my morning coffee. Oh, and of course, my little battery operated TV only got Katie Couric in the morning. I think that should be illegal!!!
susie
Why is it that NBC and PBS are the only channels to come through via antenna anymore? Nuts.
Yeah, I noticed we got PBS...I thought, what a waste! Like I wanted to watch Barney!! 8-o
susie
It took a day to get re-used to turning on the switches - lol!
NN, has everyone who was unaccounted for now checked in? Also, has anyone heard anything more from flattorney? He said he was returning to Miami this past weekend to check out his property. I hope he didn't find much damage.
I just got back from Wal-Mart down in Florida City, and I saw a LOT of houses missing shingles from the turnpike. A couple of homes in the Goulds area looked like every shingle was gone. Lots of damaged palm trees too. Some of the trees along the turnpike had only one single frond left. They looked pretty pathetic.
As TWC's Dave Schwartz said after Rita, "No mas, por favor."
I believe everyone has now checked in post Wilma. Flattorney has been busy posting since the World Series ended. Haven't heard how the property fared the storm.
Well, they were wrong about the superstorm. Let's hope they're wrong about Gamma too. Enough records have been broken this year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.