Hurricane Wilma seen strengthening, heads for Florida

NEW YORK (Reuters) – All seven major weather models
predicted Hurricane Wilma, the 12th hurricane of the season,
could strengthen into a Category 3 storm before entering the
Gulf of Mexico and heading for Florida’s Gulf Coast later this
week.

The models show the storm, now in the Caribbean, was moving
northwest to the waters between Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and
western Cuba, where it will likely turn northeast toward the
south-central Gulf Coast of Florida.

Wilma will probably spare U.S. oil and natural gas rigs and
refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, which had been badly battered
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in late August and September.

In an advisory at 11 a.m. EDT, the U.S. National Hurricane
Center said the storm’s maximum sustained winds were 75 miles
per hour, with higher gusts, making Wilma a Category 1 storm
(74-95 mph winds) on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The NHC predicted the storm would become a major hurricane
over the next day or two and could strengthen into a Category 3
storm with winds from 111-130 mph before entering the Gulf of
Mexico.

The center of the storm was about 195 miles south-southeast
of Grand Cayman and about 200 miles east-northeast of Cabo
Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border, the NHC said.

It said Wilma would likely continue moving toward the
northwest near 7 mph over the next 24 hours.

The NHC will issue an intermediate advisory at 2 p.m.
followed by a complete advisory at 5 p.m. Position: Lat. 16.5
degrees North

Long. 80.6 degrees West

(195 miles south-southeast of Grand Cayman) Track:
Northwest near 7 mph Strength: 75 mph maximum sustained winds

LATEST FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAXIMUM WINDS

INITIAL 18/1500Z 16.5N 80.6W 65 KT

12HR VT 19/0000Z 17.0N 81.2W 75 KT

24HR VT 19/1200Z 17.7N 82.3W 90 KT

36HR VT 20/0000Z 18.5N 83.5W 100 KT

48HR VT 20/1200Z 19.6N 84.5W 105 KT

72HR VT 21/1200Z 22.0N 85.5W 105 KT

96HR VT 22/1200Z 24.0N 84.0W 100 KT 120HR VT 23/1200Z 28.5N
78.5W 75 KT

(NOTES — Second column shows date and GMT time. To convert
GMT time to EDT, subtract 4 hours. Third and fourth column show
coordinates. Fifth column shows maximum sustained speed in
knots. 1 knot = 1.15 mph. 34 knots or greater is tropical storm
strength. 64 knots or greater is hurricane strength. U.S.
offshore oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico
is concentrated north of 27 degrees North and west of 88
degrees West.)