Wilma at 175 mph:
Most Intense Atlantic Hurricane Ever
By The Associated Press
Updated 5:50 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 19.
LiveScience Staff contributed to this report.
Editor's Note: By late Wednesday afternoon, Wilma's top winds were down to 160 mph. Forecasters said to expect more fluctuations over the next 24 hours. The story below remains as it was first published Wednesday morning when the hurricane set a record for the most intense storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin.
For the latest update on Wilma, click here.
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) -- Gathering strength at a fierce pace, Hurricane Wilma swirled into the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded Wednesday, a Category 5 monster packing 175 mph wind that forecasts warned was "extremely dangerous.''
Wilma was dumping rain on Central America and Mexico. A hurricane watch was in effect for the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, parts of Cuba and the Cayman Islands, and forecasters warned of a "significant threat'' to Florida by the weekend.
“All interests in the Florida Keys and the Florida peninsula should closely monitor the progress of extremely dangerous Hurricane Wilma,'' the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, the hurricane was centered about 340 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. Maximum sustained wind was 175 mph, forecasters said.
The top winds were less than 100 mph Tuesday night.
It was expected to dump up to 25 inches of rain in mountainous areas of Cuba through Friday, and up to up to 15 inches in the Caymans and Jamaica through Thursday. Up to 12 inches was possible from Honduras through the Yucatan peninsula, the U.S. weather service said.
Wilma is a smaller storm than Katrina. Wilma's hurricane force winds extend outward to 15 miles (30 km) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles (260 km).
Wilma's confirmed pressure readings, measured at the center of the storm Wednesday, morning dropped to 882 millibars -- the lowest minimum pressure ever measured in a hurricane in the Atlantic basin, according to the hurricane center. Lower pressure translates generally into higher wind speed.
Forecasters said Wilma was stronger than the devastating Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys in 1935, the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record. But Wilma wasn't expected to keep its record strength for long, as higher disruptive atmospheric winds in the Gulf of Mexico around the hurricane should weaken it before landfall, said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the hurricane center.
Wilma is the 12th hurricane of the season, a number reached once before in 1969 since record keeping began in 1851.
Wilma is also the 21st named storm of the six-month hurricane season, which ties another record set in 1933.
Since 1995, the Atlantic has been in a period of higher hurricane activity. Scientists say the cause of the increase is a rise in ocean temperatures and a decrease in the amount of disruptive vertical wind shear that rips hurricanes apart. Some researchers argue that global warming fueled by man's generation of greenhouse gases is the culprit.
Forecasters at the hurricane center say the busy seasons are part of a natural cycle that can last for at least 20 years, and sometimes up to 40 or 50. They say the conditions are similar to those when the Atlantic was last in a period of high activity in the 1950s and 60s.
The six-month hurricane season ends Nov. 30. Wilma is the last on the list of storm names for 2005; there are 21 names on the yearly list because the letters q, u, x, y and z are skipped. If any other storms form, letters from the Greek alphabet would be used, starting with Alpha. That has never happened in roughly 60 years of regularly named Atlantic storms.
Four storms—Stan, Tammy, Vince and Wilma—have formed this month and is double the October average of two storms. Six is the record, set in October 1950 and 1887.
"Six weeks remain in this year's hurricane season, and although activity in the Atlantic Basin decreases, tropical storms and hurricanes are still possible," said Scott Kiser, Tropical Cyclone Program manager for the NOAA National Weather Service.