Good morning,
Wilma, to the suprise of many, EXPLODED overnight.
Last night at 11 PM, I saw 972 MB at last report, with 100-MPH winds. Woke up this morning, only 6 hours later, and see 881 MB with 175 MPH sustained winds. I thought it was a joke or a misprint, but it is NOT.
First of all, 881 MB shatters the all-time Atlantic surface pressure record, which was presented back in 1988 by hurricane Gilbert, a record not broken until this morning, 17 years later.
Also, the pressure drop ... 972 to 881 MB in only 6 hours, that is a 91 MB drop in that time frame, averaging 15.2 MB PER HOUR - WOW!! Another record ... Explosive deepening re-defined!
Finally, the season 2004 has already broken a record for the first time TWO category 5 hurricanes were observed (Katrina and Rita) ... Now we have to say THREE category 5 storms.
These look like they (cat-4 storms) are not so rare anymore.
Now, we talk about SW Florida. Hopefully, as the storm turns that way, which it WILL, it will weaken from the effects of the trough. How much it will weaken is a question, but most models paint Wilma coming ashore near Naples, FL as a category 3 storm (most likely not a 5, thank God), but with as much as 130-MPH sustained in some models.
Still very bad, ESPECIALLY with storm surge. Take this thing seriously!!
As the storm comes in, it has a tight wind core, and that can change too, but this will confine the winds close to it's center. This morning, Wilma had the pin-hole eye, 2-4 miles wide, very much like Charley did back in 2004, as well as another storm, typhoon Forest back in 1970's near the Phillipines.
The point here is that such "pinhole" eyes spin up and down readily and have eyewall replacement / concentric eyewall cycles. Intensity is now most likely governed by internal dynamics of the storm, and can fluctuate easily as much as 2 categories from this alone.
Possibly, Wilma will have completed such a cycle, then encounter the trough, and weaken enough to "soften the blow" on SW FL. The storm will, ofcourse, weaken as it transits the state, and re-emerge on the other side as a weaker system, much like Charley did.
We really need to watch this thing closely.
Chris C - KG4PJN