Storm Expected To Be Hurricane When It Nears U.S.
POSTED: Sunday, October 16, 2005
UPDATED: 11:26 pm EDT October 16,
2005
 |
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- A tropical depression in the Caribbean Sunday is expected to strengthen into Hurricane Wilma and move toward Florida this week, according to Local 6 News meteorologist Michele Cimino."Current movement puts the system over the western edge of Cuba and eventually in the Gulf of Mexico and maybe even across our state by the end of the week or into the weekend," Cimino said.
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Circulation was flaring up in the system Sunday, showing the potential for strengthening.The computer models for the system are in agreement Sunday that there will be a northern turn in the next 48 hours."For us in Central Florida, we are not in the projected path yet but we are getting ever so close," Cimino said.A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Cayman Islands Sunday and residents began preparing for the worst.At 11 p.m. EDT, the depression was centered about 155 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, forecasters said. It was moving west near 2 mph and had sustained winds near 35 mph. Depressions become tropical storms when their winds reach 39 mph.It has moved little over the past few hours. A drift toward the west or southwest is expected in the next 24 hours.Long term forecasts show the storm would likely move in a general westward direction for the next three days, then turn to the north, possibly as a hurricane.A hurricane watch was issued for the Cayman Islands, meaning hurricane conditions could be felt there within 36 hours.The depression is expected to bring 3 to 5 inches of rain over the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, with as much as 10 inches possible in some areas, forecasters said.In the Cayman Islands, 51-year-old Susan Craig was ready."I still have all the supplies from the previous storms this season, basically a lot of peanut M&M's, so I am ready just in case," she said.The chairman of the Cayman Islands' National Hurricane Center, Donovan Ebanks, said authorities had been monitoring the weather for several days."Because of where it is, and the fact that it is projected to become a tropical storm by tomorrow and possibly a hurricane in a couple of days, we've decided to go ahead and issue a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch," he said.In Jamaica, officials issued a flash flood warning for northwestern parts of the island. Jamaica's office of disaster preparedness said several businesses had been flooded in Montego Bay.If the system becomes Tropical Storm Wilma, it would make it the 21st named storm of the season, tying the record for the most storms in an Atlantic season, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.The only other time that many storms have formed since record keeping began 154 years ago was in 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president and the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression.Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2005 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
MAP: Track The Storm | Sat. Loop INTERACTIVE: Hurricanes 101 | Tracker SPECIAL: Hurricane Guide -- Storm StatusCirculation was flaring up in the system Sunday, showing the potential for strengthening.The computer models for the system are in agreement Sunday that there will be a northern turn in the next 48 hours."For us in Central Florida, we are not in the projected path yet but we are getting ever so close," Cimino said.A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Cayman Islands Sunday and residents began preparing for the worst.At 11 p.m. EDT, the depression was centered about 155 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, forecasters said. It was moving west near 2 mph and had sustained winds near 35 mph. Depressions become tropical storms when their winds reach 39 mph.It has moved little over the past few hours. A drift toward the west or southwest is expected in the next 24 hours.Long term forecasts show the storm would likely move in a general westward direction for the next three days, then turn to the north, possibly as a hurricane.A hurricane watch was issued for the Cayman Islands, meaning hurricane conditions could be felt there within 36 hours.The depression is expected to bring 3 to 5 inches of rain over the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, with as much as 10 inches possible in some areas, forecasters said.In the Cayman Islands, 51-year-old Susan Craig was ready."I still have all the supplies from the previous storms this season, basically a lot of peanut M&M's, so I am ready just in case," she said.The chairman of the Cayman Islands' National Hurricane Center, Donovan Ebanks, said authorities had been monitoring the weather for several days."Because of where it is, and the fact that it is projected to become a tropical storm by tomorrow and possibly a hurricane in a couple of days, we've decided to go ahead and issue a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch," he said.In Jamaica, officials issued a flash flood warning for northwestern parts of the island. Jamaica's office of disaster preparedness said several businesses had been flooded in Montego Bay.If the system becomes Tropical Storm Wilma, it would make it the 21st named storm of the season, tying the record for the most storms in an Atlantic season, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.The only other time that many storms have formed since record keeping began 154 years ago was in 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president and the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression.Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2005 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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