Hurricane Wilma
 

Strenghened to a Cat 5 with 175mph winds overnight and is projected to slam into Florida this weekend. :(

From the Weather Channel:

Hopefully it loses some punch before its next landfall. But yeah, another monster storm.

dang -- never expected Wilma to really go anywhere, I just thought it was kinda cool, in an interesting sort of way, that we had more named storms since 1933 - -and that the next storms would use the greek alphabet.

Batten down the hatches Florida...

Ohhhh man . . . . . . . Katrina passed right over our house in Miami, and after Rita I thought we'd survived the season, certainly there aren't going to be any more big ones this late in the season. . . . .

But now we have the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean basin, in all likelihood headed for Florida again. Unbelievable.

Now the question is: should we stay or leave? The track currently is well off to the north, so we'll just have to play the waiting game and get all our supplies today.

That makes sense, it is still days away, but get your provisions and pack your bags and get gas so you can hightail it out of there as soon as the governer or mayor or whoever makes that call.

And they expect it to decline a bit before landfall. I agree, don't panic but be ready.

They are "predicting" that it will drop to a Cat 3 by this weekend..

I've decided that I'm one sick puppy. I'm so excited about the stupid thing! It's going to fly over. Should be gone in a few hours, right? I'm in the northeast corner, though, so we'll probably get nothin'. :( Told mom and dad to hang on... They're just south of Tampa.

All I know is i'm glad I live in the Northeast where the worst thing we have to worry about is snow. Hopefully it'll just be a tropical depression by the time it hits Florida... you guys have had enough to deal with already this year!!!

I may get school off on Friday and Monday :)

At what point is the US going to throw its hands up, turn its head to the sky and bellow "Why us, Lord?"

Man, I cannot believe that you guys are getting a third bad one... you Yanks are tough SOB's.

My brother and his wife live near Ft. Meyers, directly in Wilma's projected path and are nervously debating whether to evacuate. It seems like a simple decision to me sitting comfortably miles away, but for the sake of discussion, here are their possible reasons to stay.

1) The storm may downgrade (fingers crossed!) How long do you wait before losing your head start?
2) There have been a rash of break-ins in their neighbourhood lately, and they're afraid of returning to a ransacked home. (influences reason #1)
3) What if you evacuate north and Wilma veers that way too?

As of now, a Cat 4, due to hit landfall Friday morning. Let's hope that slows it down, with a minimum amount of damage!

I have a colleague in Naples... and he and his wife have made arrangements to go to Fort Lauderdale... it might bypass Fort Meyers... it might not... why take unnecessary risks.. Honestly if the house is ransacked... that'd be a reason for insurance... it's honestly only stuff... your life and sense of safety are not easily replaceable.

Keep safe, little brother Munku.

Well, it's not just us you know. The Carribean, Pakistan et al are/have been hit pretty hard.

I'd say we're pretty lucky - our casualties are laughably low compared with all the rest.

man i don't understand while people live in those areas, especially florida! They get hit every year a couple times. Obviously some people don't have a choice of living there but so many people move to florida. It just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Nasa has a stunning high speed satallite visualization of this year's entire hurricane season. It may be the most hypnotizing thing you watch today.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/loo...ne_season.html

I've lived in Florida all of my life. Near Tampa, in St. Augustine, in Orlando, in Jacksonville. I watched my little dog blow off the ground in Hurricane Elena (on a leash, PETA). Lived through probably about 15 hurricanes in my lifetime... only one almost direct hit. They're exhilarating, but I have a healthy respect for Mother Nature.

I love it here, Rekna... I hate the cold with a passion after about two days. That's why I live here. Oh, and the loving relationship I've nurtured with mosquitos and alligators. :lol:

I find it odd, and a little sad, that some in the are saying: "it looks like it will hang out over the Yucatan for at least 24 hours, which should weaken it before it hits Florida"

Meanwhile, the Yucatan gets completely wrecked by a storm that'll dump 2 feet of rain on them along with 150mph winds!

I've been through two direct hits (Hugo, Isabel) and several glancing blows. I sincerely hope this calms much more before hitting Florida. They must be waterlogged.

The track puts it off our shore by Wednesday. May have one last 'cane before I move!

I don't think its time to panic over any particular landfall yet. This storm is moving so slow, and has yet to cross into the gulf. The computer models are still forecasting a US landfall on the SW coast of FL. These computer models were run several days ago when the LPS trof that is moving over the southeastern US was expected to move quickly and far south. 2 days ago it became apparant that this trof is not as strong, nor going to reach as far south as first predicted, yet the computer models have not changed. The storm was to have crossed into the gulf by now, yet it has stalled on the tip of the yucatan.

I believe when Wilma finally crosses into the Gulf of Mexico you will see the new computer models shifting the track farther north. Tampa will get nervous, but I think a landfall in tampa is less likely than a landfall farther north. I've been following some meterologists in the blogosphere that have an interesting scenerio where an apalachee bay, FL landfall is expected.

But for now it is still too soon to say where this storm will hit, but a FL landfall is most likely. We still see a NNW track and this storm would have to make a 90 degree turn to hit naples/ft.myers. (I'm not saying its never happened, I just don't see the weak trof pushing it so far). For now we can only wait and see.

fresnelly, thanks for that link, it's spectacular!

We're still in sit and wait mode (here in S. Miami). There was a mad rush to the local stores and gas pumps a couple days ago, but that seems to have subsided as people are just biding their time now; some places are closed down this afternoon. I feel sorry for the folks in the Yucatan at the moment.

This thing is moving so slow, it's crazy. now it's not projected for landfall until early monday morning. Yesterday, it was very early sunday.

Regardless, this thing will pack a big punch when it gets here.

2 things:

1) I think it's deplorable the way this is being framed, not necessarily in this thread, but in terms of desiring that the bulk of the disaster occur elsewhere (cancun, etc.) in exchange for lighter pummeling on US citizens. ...and yeah, I recognize that some wish it wouldn't hit any place at all, but more than one commentator has stated it exactly in the terms I objected to...

2) what the hell kind of news coverage is this crap? I watched a reporter on FOX news stand out in the fucking porch and try and talk for fifteen minutes. more than once, he looked literally about to go over the edge of the railing. I watched because I wanted to see him get hurricaned away on "live" tv, which is why they show it....I assume. how sick--both of us ;)

3) ok, three things (everything looks better with 3 points, no?)
best wishes from the west coast to the east. and hey, we know why you live there! same reasons I suspect why we live over here even though a nuclear/earthquake disaster is all but guaranteed in the not to distant future....but yeah, be safe fellow members and for fuck's sake don't stand outside with a mic and camera in your hand (but if you do, I'll be compelled to watch)

Adding insult to injury doesn't quite seem to sum up the feeling that this third hurricane brings. As for the news coverage, I agree but what do you expect weathermen are entertainers first and scientists third(i assume that most have a hobby they are better at). Although if you think about it has to be a form of entertainment, how else are you going to get someone to watch basically the same facts that everyone has, you need an edge. Doesn't make it right, but people watch it.

Yea...I'm dead centre in "The Cone of Probability".

Not really looking forward to it...

they could actually cover something else ;)
or, if people really feel the urge to watch constant updates and coverage of these natural disasters, wouldn't you prefer to see how people are actually handling things? I'd be into that more than seeing someone stand outside a tourist hotel...actually go out into the town and cover how they are evacuating/hunkering down...there's a thought: we might actually benefit from watching what the other places are doing right :D

Ya know. . . . I have this strange theory that people who don't know what they're talking about probably shouldn't say too much on the subject. First, the reporters in hurricanes are usually not meteorologists. The meteorologists are back in the office monitoring the weather data. Second, unless you have the brains (I know I don't) to get a degree in meterology, you should probably avoid denigrating those who do.

I'm in Miami and I'm sitting here waiting for this biatch to strike. Just bring it!

^Run.

........

I do have the brains so I guess I’ll keep on denigrating. A meteorologist is one who studies meteorology and forecasts the weather. A weatherman just forecasts the weather. Guess who I was talking about. See from the way I look at it means that a meteorologist has to be a weatherman, but a weatherman doesn’t necessarily have to be a meteorologist. I agree those in the hurricanes aren’t meteorologists, I would call them weathermen, but you seem to have a problem with the definition of weatherman. Although I’ll admit that some dictionaries do have the words weatherman and meteorologist as synonyms I see how that could be confusing. I don’t need advise if I did I’d ask for it. That’s all I have to say about that.
P.S. Sorry to highjack the thread, it wasn't my intial intention.

I'm glad to see that you know the difference between a meterologist and a weatherman. Most viewers don't, and that's to your credit. You seem to have trouble, however, with the difference between a weatherman and a reporter. Those guys out there getting blown around by hurricanes? Most of them are reporters. Not weathermen. The weathermen will usually still be back in the studio so they can point at their weather maps. And if you seriously think the reporters want to be standing in a hurricane, think again. It's their clueless bosses who've decided that's what most people want to see that are making them get out in that slop. And because of that the reporters (and photogs) have to live out of a sat truck for a week or so, eating beef jerky and granola bars and trying not to notice that the other guys in the truck smell as bad as they do. I don't really think they'd do that just to entertain. You make it sound like these guys are doing standup or juggling or something during the weathercast. Stations that want to win the weather block hire a meterologist and get all sorts of whizbang weather toys, then promo the hell out of them. They don't hire Bozo the Clown.

To amend my earlier statment... never mind running. I 75 has been slammed since Thursday according to the parents. I told them to run, too. Mom laughed as I had forgotten her double knee replacement a month ago. Now it's just "hide".

Anyone else wonder what was done that G-d has shown just a bit of his anger this year. Between all the 'disasters.'

Ditto here . . . . had a hurricane party with friends last night and my wife passed out from all the wine . . .

Sure is nice weather this morning, no wind, about 80 degrees, partly cloudy. Might go in for a swim in the lake this afternoon.

We'll have 2-3 more holidays from work, fingers crossed that it won't me much more than that . . . .

Yeah, i'm right in the path of the top-right quadrant of it. SHould be fun.

Hey wunderground only has one computer model going over my apartment now. Just the same I'm at work right now doing system saves on the I5. At least this time is supposed to be cold for a few days afterwards. Last year it got hot as hell right afterwards with no breeze at all.

It hit south of me this morning. I woke up, turned on the news and it's already over West Palm Beach. I guess I didn't lose power because my clocks aren't blinking. As of now...it's still a little windy and somewhat sunny.

I got lucky...again.

We got hit with a category 1, lost three trees, but no damage to the house. No power, we're cooking on a coleman stove, trying to eat everything as it thaws in the freezer . . . . .

It's a big block party at the moment, BEAUTIFUL weather, chainsaws and generators buzzing everywhere. Lucky one more time.