Wilma strengthens to Category 5 hurricane (AP) Updated: 2005-10-19 15:54
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras - Hurricane Wilma strengthened into a Category 5
monster early Wednesday packing 175 mph winds, and forecasters said a key
reading of the storm's pressure showed it to be the most powerful of the year.
Wilma was dumping rain on Central America and Mexico, and forecasters warned
of a "significant threat" to Florida by the weekend.
This NOAA satellite
image taken Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005, at 2:15 a.m. EDT shows thick clouds
associated with Hurricane Wilma centered west-southwest of Jamaica. The
storm is expected to remain a strong hurricane the next few days while
moving north-northwest through the Yucatan Channel. Over land, low clouds
can be seen over parts of the Northeast, but few clouds can be seen over
the Southeast. The extreme northern portion of Michigan is experiencing
light showers from clouds over the region, while thunderstorms are making
their way into the Southern Plains. [AP] | The
storm's power multiplied greatly over the last day. It was only Tuesday morning
that Wilma grew from a tropical storm into a weak hurricane with 80 mph winds.
Wilma's pressure readings Wednesday morning indicated that it was the
strongest hurricane of the season, said Trisha Wallace, a meteorologist at the
National Hurricane Center in Miami. Wilma had a reading of 892 millibars, the
same reading as a devastating unnamed hurricane that hit the Florida Keys in
1935.
"We do not know how long it will maintain this Category 5 state," Wallace
said.
Jamaica, Cuba, Nicaragua and Honduras were getting heavy rain from the storm,
though it wasn't likely to make landfall in any of those countries, she said.
Forecasts showed it would likely turn toward the narrow Yucatan Channel between
Cuba and Mexico's Cancun region — then move into the storm-weary Gulf.
By 2 a.m. EDT, the hurricane was centered about 170 miles southwest of Grand
Cayman Island and about 400 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. It was moving
toward the west-northwest at nearly 8 mph, according to the Hurricane Center.
"It does look like it poses a significant threat to Florida by the weekend.
Of course, these are four- and five-day forecasts, so things can change," said
Dan Brown, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
Wilma already had been blamed for one death in Jamaica as a tropical
depression Sunday. It has flooded several low-lying communities and triggered
mudslides that blocked roads and damaged several homes, said Barbara Carby, head
of Jamaica's emergency management office. She said that some 250 people were in
shelters throughout the island.
While some Florida residents started preparing by buying water, canned food
and other supplies, hurricane shutters hadn't gone up yet in Punta Gorda, on
Florida's Gulf coast, and no long lines had formed for supplies or gas.
Still, Wilma's track could take it near that city and other Florida areas hit
by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, in August 2004. The state has seen
seven hurricanes hit or pass close by since then, causing more than $20 billion
in estimated damage and killing nearly 150 people.
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