Hurricane Wilma strengthened into a Category 5 monster early Wednesday with 175 mph winds, and forecasters said a key reading of the storm’s pressure showed it to be the most powerful of the year.
As of 2 p.m. E.D.T. (1 p.m. Cayman Time) Wednesday, Hurricane Wilma was located 300 miles SE of Cozumel, Mexico: 17.5 N, 83.5 W; with winds of 165 mph and gusts up to 200 mph; and is moving WNW at 7 mph. |
Wilma was on course to sideswipe Central America and Mexico, and forecasters warned of a “significant threat” to Florida by the weekend.
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.
Hurricane Hunters have recorded a pressure of 892 mb, tied for the 2nd lowest pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. This represents more than a 70 mb drop in less than 8 hours.
Hurricane watches have been extended up to parts of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Hurricane Wilma is moving west-northwestward at 8 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. Heavy showers are likely in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, northern Honduras and southern Cuba. Wilma may try to slip through the Yucatan Channel into the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico and turn to the east or northeast. Residents of the southern Florida, including the Keys, should begin thinking about the possibility of a hurricane strike sometime this coming weekend.
At 2am the centre of Wilma was near latitude 17.0 north, longtitude 82.2 west, or about 170 miles soutj, southwest of Grand Cayman and about 400 miles of Cozumel, Mexico.
Schools and many businesses remain closed in the Cayman Islands today because of poor driving conditions with wind and rain.
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