Hurricane Wilma Live Thread, Part IV

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.

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

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

Comprehensive Tropical Weather Information
Current Watch: Hurricane Gamma - 11.15.05 2005 Atlantic & Caribbean Tropics Events - Highest in Recorded History

10.24.05 - Wilma Slams South Florida as a Category 3 Hurricane
with a 52 mile wide eye, max sustained winds of 120/Gusts-155 mph. Wilma begins to exit South Florida as a Category 2,
MSW 105/Gusts-140 mph, little change in eye width, but it had become quite irregular. However, as Wilma is moving off the
SFP east coast she rapidly increases in intensity, and eye wall shape/formation, with the back side of the hurricane (still on land) causing extensive damage with MSW 125/Gusts-160 mph as Wilma becomes a major Category 3 hurricane again.

FR Pre-Florida Wilma Live Threads: Part I - Part II - Part III
FR Florida Wilma Live Thread: Part IV
(10.26.05 - Combined Wilma Live Threads: over 185,000 views - 6,000 posts) Thanks NautiNurse & everyone that contributed to the threads
E-SFP: Miami-North Dade/Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm Beach - Significant Damage
W-SFP: West End-Florida Keys & Naples - Significant Damage
Current Florida Losses Estimate: $18 Billion Highest Recorded Wilma Ground Wind Speeds:
E-SFP: Key Biscayne - 123 mph. (A record I could have done without)
W-SFP: NHC-Key West and Naples - 125 mph
Hurricane Wilma High Resolution Satellite Images
(Click to Enlarge Thumbnails)
~ Approaching South Florida ~

~ On Land - East Coast, South Florida Peninsula ~

~ Moving Off Atlantic Shore - Offshore ~

10.24.05-7:30pm: Downtown Miami Without Power.
This photo looks "a little different" than the first photo on the page of Downtown Miami, shot from the same area.

Hurricane Wilma: SFP On-Shore Reported Winds (MPH)### East SFP ### - Key Biscayne - 123; Hollywood - 116; South Miami - 115; Miramar - 105; Weston - 104; West Miami-Dade (NHC) - 104; Lake Okeechobee - 102; Boca Raton - 102; Deerfield Beach - 102; Palm Beach - 101; Fort Lauderdale - 95 #
Others E-SFP Unofficial Reports: Pompano Beach - 118; Hallandale Beach - 113; Dania Beach - 108; Fort Lauderdale Courthouse - 105; Davie (Miami Dolphins Training Camp) - 100
### West – SFP ### - Florida Keys: NHC - 125; Cudjoe Key; - 120 Sombrero Key; - 101 Long Key – 74 #
Collier Emergency Operations Center - 125; Naples Airport - 121; Fort Myers Beach - 100; Everglades City - 97; Naples Bellasera Hotel - 86; Cape Coral Elementary - 80; Bonita Springs - 80; Southwest Florida International Airport - 75

Wilma SFP Track & PinPoint Windspeeds Map
Courtesy Jeffers (Click Thumbnail to Enlarge)

10.25 - Florida Power & Light states almost 3.2 million customers remained without power Tuesday morning in what the utility described as the worst outage in its history. 98% of Miami-Dade County's 2.3 million people are without power. Not even Hurricane Andrew achieved that feat in 1992. FPL stated it may take up to four weeks to restore power to everyone because of serious damage to its infrastructure. All public services infrastructure is down on Key Biscayne island. No power, water, sewer, or phones. West side of island (where I live) hit much harder than East side. Miami International Airport closed due to damage (some severe)-power loss. However, one runway is open for emergency relief flights. Airports at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Palm Beach are also closed due to damage (some severe)-power loss. Many reports of significant damage to parked private aircrafts in Wilma's path. Wilma also slammed a parked commercial jet head-on into another parked commercial jet doing significant damage to the second jet.

FPL Update: 10.26.05
Power: Out-2,552,000...Restored-689,400...Total-3,241,400
Miami-Dade: Out-800,400...Restored-156,100...Total-956,500 FPL Update: 10.27.05
Power: Out-2,078,500....Restored-1,162,900....Total-3,241,400
Miami-Dade: Out-612,300...Restored-344,200...Total-956,500
FPL Update: 10.28.05-2100
Power: Out-1,596,400...Restored-1,645,000...Total-3,241,400
Miami-Dade: Out-428,800...Restored-527,700...Total-956,500
Broward: Out-604,500...Restored-258,300...Total-862,800
Palm Beach: Out-434,100...Restored-229,400...Total-663,500

Map of FPL Power Restoration Dates-All Counties
(Click Thumbnail to Enlarge)

10.28 - New Power Outage & Restoration Maps
Miami-Dade & Broward Counties Only
(Click to Enlarge Thumbnails)

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