Thunderbird12
(Meteorologist)
Sun Oct 23 2005 09:57 PM
Re: 114 Knots at Flight Level!

The previous update was old... here is the new one:

HURRICANE WILMA TROPICAL CYCLONE POSITION ESTIMATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
10 PM EDT SUN OCT 23 2005

AT 10 PM EDT...0200Z... THE CENTER OF THE LARGE EYE OF HURRICANE
WILMA WAS ESTIMATED BY THE NOAA DOPPLER RADAR IN KEY WEST FLORIDA
NEAR LATITUDE 24.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 83.8 WEST OR ABOUT 130 MILES...
210 KM... WEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA AND ABOUT 180 MILES... 290 KM...
SOUTHWEST OF NAPLES FLORIDA.

RECENT DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT
AND FROM THE NOAA DOPPLER RADAR IN KEY WEST FLORIDA INDICATE WILMA
IS VERY NEAR CATEGORY THREE...OR MAJOR... HURRICANE STRENGTH. IF
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EYEWALL CONTINUE TO PERSIST AND REMAIN WELL
ORGANIZED... THEN WILMA WILL LIKELY BE UPGRADED TO A CATEGORY THREE
HURRICANE ON THE 11 PM ADVISORY.

SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS ARE OCCURRING OVER THE LOWER
FLORIDA KEYS... AND ARE NOW WITHIN 40 MILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN
FLORIDA COAST.

FORECASTER STEWART