ORLANDO, Fla. -- The latest projected path of movement for Hurricane Wilma shows the system moving into South Florida around Fort Myers as a Category 2 storm early Monday, according to Local 6 meteorologist Tom Sorrells.

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"According to the modeling right now, the hurricane-force winds stay to the south of our viewing area but some of the tropical storm-force winds do make it in. Eventually, this path comes a little too close for comfort for most of the viewing area," Sorrells said.

Wilma is expected to hit Florida with 100-mph sustained winds on its current path.

"It's a Cat. 2 now, it strengthens into a three and then diminishes to a two again because the backside draws in some drier air and the westerly winds shear it," Sorrells said. "It will be a weakening system as it approaches land. Even though it is weakening to a Category 2, it is a pretty formidable hit on our state in the next 48 hours."

Sorrells said the models did not agree on the storm's landfall.

"Some of the models are doing some goofy tricks," Sorrells said. "The GFS model has been backing up north during the last three runs."

The Local 6 VIPIR forecast shows the storm moving into the state just south of Tampa and then leaving Florida over Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon.

Once the storm hits, it is expected to clear the state in about five hours.

By 8 a.m. EDT, Wilma was moving toward the northeast near 8 mph and should pick up even more speed. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 100 mph and was located about 90 miles north-northeast of Cancun, Mexico, or about 315 miles west-southwest of Key West.

Wilma was the last entry on the 21-name list for storms this season, so for the first time in almost 60 years of naming storms, forecasters switched to the 24 letters in the Greek alphabet to name Tropical Storm Alpha.

Watches, Warnings

A hurricane warning was issued for the entire southern Florida peninsula ahead of Hurricane Wilma and the Florida Keys were under a mandatory evacuation.

A hurricane warning was in effect from Longboat Key on the Gulf Coast to Jupiter Inlet on the Atlantic, including the Florida Keys.

A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the next 24 hours, while a hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

A tropical storm watch was issued from Longboat Key north to the Steinhatchee River, and from Titusville north to Fernandina Beach.

The Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay were also under hurricane warning. A hurricane watch remains in effect from Florida's east coast north of Jupiter Inlet to Titusville.

Floridians Prepare

As residents boarded up windows and some fled Wilma's path, state and federal officials prepared for the storm.

It would be the eighth hurricane to hit or at least brush Florida since August 2004.

"We think it will likely be weakening as it moves over Florida. But if it is weakened down from a Category 3, that is still a very significant hurricane," National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said.

Even with its center hundreds of miles away, Wilma was already causing problems far across the state on the Atlantic coast. Outer rainbands caused hip-deep flooding in some neighborhoods in the Fort Lauderdale area, forcing people out of at least 50 apartments and houses.

"We've got two more days before the hurricane. What are we going to do?" asked Belinda Orange, 31, whose Oakland Park home had up to a foot of water inside and a black water line of dirt clung to her white walls.

More than 5 inches of rain fell in that area, with flooding mostly contained to the streets in the 2-square mile area, Broward County and National Weather Service officials said.

In the Keys, residents were waiting as long as possible before making a decision about whether to leave. The mandatory evacuation began at noon Saturday. Voluntary evacuations were encouraged Friday, the same day Collier County urged evacuations for coastal areas, such as Marco Island and parts of Naples.

Many were banking on Wilma weakening over Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Wilma had dropped to a Category 2 hurricane with top sustained winds of about 100 mph Saturday, down 30 mph from Friday, and could lose more intensity before reaching Florida.

Around Naples, people could still be seen sipping coffee at sidewalk cafes. While workers installed metal panels over the windows at city hall, several groups hammered away at balls on the clay tennis courts across the street at Cambier Park.

In an evacuation zone in Naples, Angel DiRienzo screwed plywood panels over his home, covering windows as he prepared to take his family north to an aunt's house in Lake City. The sluggish progress of the storm is keeping them off-guard.

"That's what has us all in a daze," said his wife, Anissa DiRienzo. "You don't know what to expect, but you have to expect something. That's just the nature of the weather."

" State and federal officials said they had supplies and personnel outside of the areas expected to get hit. Gas supplies were also adequate, they said.

"We will not wait for the winds to stop blowing, we won't wait for the sky to turn blue. We'll get wet and it'll be a little dark and a little windy, but the citizens that are impacted know ... that Florida is a team," said Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management director.

Four to 8 inches of rain was expected in southern Florida through Tuesday, with up to a foot in some areas. Category 2 hurricanes can be accompanied by storm surge flooding of 12-14 feet, or 17 feet with a Category 3 hurricane.

Battering waves could be on top of that.

Those predictions weren't enough to force some Key West old-timers to leave.

"I have a home here. If I leave, who is going to take care of my house?" asked Vince Catala, who has lived on the island city all of his 71 years.

He hasn't evacuated since he was a year old and fled to the mainland with his mother ahead of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that killed more than 400 people in the middle Keys.

"Most of us that stay are prepared," said Catala, who joined the local police force in 1954. "Sure, you worry, but I'm not leaving." Far from Florida, Tropical Storm Alpha formed Saturday about 125 miles south-southeast of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, prompting a tropical storm warning for Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The system was the 22nd named storm this season, the most since record keeping began in 1851. It wasn't expected to hit the U.S. mainland.

Watch Local 6 meteorologist Tom Sorrells, Larry Mowry and Michele Cimino for your latest forecast.