Late Thursday afternoon Katrina reached hurricane strength and moved southwestward making landfall near Miami at 6:30PM. The eyewall passed over the National Hurricane Center where a wind gust to 87mph was recorded. Katrina then moved westward and then southwestward again and is now over Whitewater Bay and Cape Sable at 1AM and is about to enter the Gulf of Mexico in extreme south Florida.

Katrina's erratic movement is likely to continue tonight as the storm is shoved south by a high pressure ridge to the north and an upper inverted trough in the eastern Caribbean. Scattered showers along weak feeder bands extend north to Daytona Beach, but the bulk of the wind and rain remains well to the south of east central Florida.

Katrina is expected to move (eventually) northwestward toward the panhandle over the next few days, bringing the focus for significant weather to the Florida west coast - and eventually the panhandle. While the threat for flooding rains has diminished for east central Florida, rain squalls are still likely for the next couple of days, and flooding conditions are likely across south Florida. Given both the weak and unusual steering currents, strong Tropical Storm Katrina probably still has at least one more unexpected scenario - so keep a wary eye on her as she regains strength. Be sure to check out Clark's article (below this one) for his thoughts on Katrina's future.
ED