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Wilma now most intense Atlantic storm ever
Updated: 2005-10-19 21:32
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras - 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 forecasters 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.
Wilma's top sustained winds reached 175 mph early Wednesday in the most rapid
strengthening ever recorded in a hurricane, said meteorologist Hugh Cobb of the
National Hurricane Center in Miami. At the same time Tuesday, Wilma was only a
tropical storm with winds of 70 mph.
Its confirmed pressure readings Wednesday morning dropped
to 882 millibars — the lowest ever measured in a hurricane in the Atlantic
basin, according to the hurricane center. The strongest on record based on the
lowest pressure reading is Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which dipped to 888
millibars.
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