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Thunderbird - I was watching TWC and they said something the other day about the upper levels of the storm being swept NE faster than the lower levels. Could this be what is happening now? What happens when a storm such as this has it's head taken off? Can it survive without that upper level feature?
It sounds like TWC was talking about the effects of strong wind shear (stronger winds at upper-levels compared to the lower-levels) on the system. That doesn't seem to be occurring yet... the strong wind shear probably won't set in until later tonight, though there may not be enough time for the shear to weaken the system signifcantly before it reaches Florida. Right now, Wilma still seems to be struggling with the effects of being over land for such a long time, which disrupted its inner circulation.
Weaker systems actually can have their mid-level circulations disconnected from the surface circulation due to strong wind shear... which inevitably leads to dissipation. That won't happen in a strong system such as Wilma, instead Wilma will eventually develop into more of a non-tropical low pressure system thanks to the effects of shear and also interacting with a cold front.
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