Tropical Storm Wilma may enter Gulf of Mexico
Posted on: Monday, 17 October 2005, 07:39 CDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four of seven major weather models predict Tropical Storm Wilma, which formed in the Caribbean Sea earlier Monday, would slam into the Yucatan Peninsula in either Mexico or Belize later this week.
After crossing the Yucatan, some of the models projected the storm might enter the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast the storm would graze the northeastern tip of the Yucatan and enter the Gulf of Mexico where it could threaten the already hurricane-battered U.S. oil and natural gas rigs and refineries along the Gulf Coast.
Two weather models, meanwhile, show the storm turning north toward western Cuba and Florida's Gulf Coast.
Satellite data indicate maximum sustained winds near 40 miles per hour with higher gusts, the NHC said in an advisory, making Wilma the 21st named tropical storm of the active and devastating 2005 Atlantic season, tying the 1933 record for named storms.
The NHC forecast some strengthening during the next 24 hours.
The center of the storm was located about 205 miles southeast of Grand Cayman at about 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).
Wilma is moving toward the southwest near five mph with a slow motion toward the southwest or west expected during the next 24 hours, the NHC said. The agency noted steering currents remain weak and some erratic motion was possible during the next day or two.
Source: REUTERS
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