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October 19, 2005
Wilma Explodes Over Night
By: Rowan Wolf
Yesterday they predicted that Hurricane Wilma would become a Category 3 hurricane over night. This morning it has jumped to a Category 5 and the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. It has a pressure reading of 844 millibars. If I recall correctly from Katrina, the record was in the 890's somewhere. So it didn't just "break" the record, it has smashed it.
correction: they are now reporting 882 millibars, still the most intense
Wilma is predicted to swing east across the Gulf and head for Florida. It is also expected it to drop to a Category 3 before making U.S. landfall.
I am not confident of the reliability of that prediction since the Gulf waters are still extremely warm, and Wilma has exceeded the prediction from last night by two full categories.
Regardless of what Wilma does, there is still over a month of the official hurricane season ahead. Being out of names for this year (also a record), any new storms will get Greek letter names. I certainly hope that doesn't mean storms of mythological proportions.
Posted by Rowan at October 19, 2005 6:19 AM Category: Global Warming