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I don't recall any of the Tampa Bay mets ever predicting that Tampa Bay would take a direct hit. They HAVE said that the storm could end up further north than Naples ...as in Ft. Myers, which is still in the "cone". All they have said is that everyone in the Tampa Bay area needed to keep a close eye on the storm because of the difficulty of predicting a storm 5 days out.
What they are telling us now is what the NWS is saying...that because of the large wind area, that areas north of where the storm will eventually will make landfall will experience TS winds in the northern coastal and inland counties; the counties in their southern viewing areas can expect hurricane force winds in the coastal and inland counties.
Given the cone of error, Naples seems to be in the bullseye. However, the margin of error is always there (ala Charley) and it could make landfall further south of Naples or further north of Naples. The NHC mentions this in every single advisory. If you've watched most hurricanes, they always seem jog a tad (or more at times) to either the east/west/north/south. Ed Rappaport said today in a CNN interview that it could be Ft. Myers, it could be Naples or it could be further south of Naples, but that with the size of the storm, you cannot focus on just the black line because most of the peninsula will feel some effects from Wilma.
Hopefully, this will end this topic. Move on and watch and wait for where this storm ends up and hope that wherever it ends up, no one suffers any major damage.

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