Breaking: Wilma now a catagory 3 hurricane

[Freedomfried]

Hurricane Wilma reaches Category 3 strength with wind speeds of 115 mph, the
National Hurricane Center said.

Another monster in the Gulf.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. Cake, anyone?

:grr:

[don954]

2. on news... gaters and snakes and other critters comming up on land

to escape water turblenance... oh joy, that life in america's rain forest!

[truthisfreedom]

3. you should edit this link into your post

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/240241.shtml

000
WTNT34 KNHC 240241
TCPAT4
BULLETIN
HURRICANE WILMA ADVISORY NUMBER 35
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
11 PM EDT SUN OCT 23 2005

...WILMA STRENGTHENS INTO A MAJOR CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE...
...TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS LASHING THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS
AND WESTERN CUBA...

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE FLORIDA
KEYS... INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS AND FLORIDA BAY...ALONG THE
FLORIDA WEST COAST FROM LONGBOAT KEY SOUTHWARD... AND ALONG THE
FLORIDA EAST COAST FROM TITUSVILLE SOUTHWARD... INCLUDING LAKE
OKEECHOBEE.

AT 11 PM EDT...0300Z... THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING ALONG THE FLORIDA
EAST COAST HAS BEEN EXTENDED NORTHWARD TO ST. AUGUSTINE. A TROPICAL
STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST NORTH
OF LONGBOAT KEY TO STEINHATCHEE RIVER...AND ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST
COAST NORTH OF TITUSVILLE TO ST. AUGUSTINE.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT ALONG THE NORTHEAST COAST OF
FLORIDA FROM NORTH OF ST. AUGUSTINE TO FERNANDINA BEACH.

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. THESE WARNINGS
AND WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE DISCONTINUED MONDAY MORNING.

A HURRICANE WARNING 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 11 PM EDT...0300Z...DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE
HUNTER AIRCRAFT... NOAA DOPPLER RADARS... AND SATELLITE IMAGES
INDICATE THE CENTER OF THE LARGE EYE OF MAJOR HURRICANE WILMA WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 24.4 NORTH... LONGITUDE 83.7 WEST OR ABOUT
120 MILES... 195 KM... WEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA AND ABOUT 170
MILES... 275 KM...SOUTHWEST OF NAPLES FLORIDA.

WILMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST NEAR 18 MPH...30 KM/HR. A
CONTINUED NORTHEASTWARD MOTION... WITH A GRADUAL INCREASE IN FORWARD
SPEED... IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AND MONDAY. ON THIS TRACK...THE CENTER
OF WILMA IS FORECAST TO MAKE LANDFALL ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST
OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA EARLY MONDAY MORNING. HOWEVER... WILMA IS
A LARGE HURRICANE AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WILL REACH THE
FLORIDA PENINSULA WELL BEFORE THE EYE MAKES LANDFALL. THE EASTERN
PORTION OF THE EYEWALL... ACCOMPANIED BY THE STRONGEST WINDS...
WILL REACH THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF FLORIDA ABOUT 2 HOURS BEFORE
THE CENTER OF THE LARGE EYE MAKES LANDFALL.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH...185 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. WILMA IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. LITTLE CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS EXPECTED UNTIL LANDFALL OCCURS
...AND WILMA WILL LIKELY MAKE LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE.
SOME SLOW WEAKENING IS FORECAST AS WILMA CROSSES THE SOUTHERN
FLORIDA PENINSULA... BUT THE HURRICANE IS FORECAST TO STILL BE A
SIGNIFICANT CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE BY THE TIME THE CENTER REACHES
THE FLORIDA EAST COAST EARLY MONDAY AFTERNOON.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES...140 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 230 MILES...370 KM. SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS ARE
OCCURRING OVER THE YUCATAN CHANNEL... WESTERN CUBA... AND THE LOWER
AND MIDDLE FLORIDA KEYS. THESE WINDS SHOULD REACH THE SOUTHWESTERN
FLORIDA COAST BY MIDNIGHT... WITH HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS REACHING
THE LOWER KEYS AND SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA COAST BEFORE SUNRISE.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE RECENTLY REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE
RESERVE UNIT HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT WAS 958 MB...28.29 INCHES.

STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 9 TO 17 FT ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS IS
POSSIBLE ALONG THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST 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 OF 2 TO 4 FEET IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN
COAST OF FLORIDA.

WILMA MAY PRODUCE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10
INCHES THROUGH MONDAY ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN CUBA. RAINFALL
ACROSS SOUTHERN FLORIDA AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA...
INCLUDING THE FLORIDA KEYS... THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON IS EXPECTED
TO BE 4 TO 8 INCHES... WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 12 INCHES
POSSIBLE. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER
PORTIONS OF THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS.

LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY WILMA WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF
THE NORTHEASTERN GULF COAST FROM THE FLORIDA KEYS NORTHWARD TONIGHT
AND EARLY MONDAY.

THE TORNADO THREAT ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA PENINSULA
... AND THE FLORIDA KEYS... HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. SCATTERED
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
AFTERNOON.

REPEATING THE 11 PM EDT POSITION...24.4 N... 83.7 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTHEAST NEAR 18 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...115 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 958 MB.

INTERMEDIATE ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 1 AM EDT AND 3 AM EDT FOLLOWED
BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 5 AM EDT.

FORECASTER STEWART

[Up2Late]

4. Yes, use this headline and the NOAA link in the post above, or it will...

...possibly get moved or Locked:

WILMA STRENGTHENS INTO A MAJOR CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE

<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/240241.shtml>

http://tsr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/tracker/dynamic/200524N_0H.html

[Lorien]

6. Oh, yipee.

tomorrow isn't going to be fun. I hope that the tree pruning that I did today will be enough to keep my huge live oaks standing (they are much larger than my home, and tower over it). :-(

[Up2Late]

7. Good luck, do you have your blue tarps ready to go?

I hear they are charging something like $3000.00 to $5000.00 Dollars to install them in Mississippi.

[oregonindy]

8. The south east side of this storm is going to have cat 4 level wind

115mph + 18 mile hour movement. 133

[Up2Late]

9. I think they factor that into the wind model, that's why the right side...

...is always stronger (in the Northern Hemisphere), but if it picks up anymore speed, you might be right.

[DesertRat]

5. My thoughts and prayers

are with everyone in the path of this storm.

[Up2Late]

10. Anyone know what the population of the Indian Reservations are...

...in the Everglades, and do you know if they get the severe storm warnings too from our governments? Their are 3 mayor ones, the Big Cypress, Miccosukee, and the Brighton Reservations.

[demnan]

11. Marco Island, Naples

Naples/Marco Island have been lucky in the past. Sorry to see their luck run out. My brother and sister in law left Naples and evacuated on Saturday north to Tampa.