forget the october rhyme; it is no where near over! wowsa! has she powered up.
I woke up this morning very early, flipped on the news and weather, and was shocked to learn that Wilma was upgraded to Cat 5. Even moreso that they said she’s measuring 884 millibars, which could make it the strongest Atlantic storm ever recorded. I hope everyone in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Caymans, surrounding islands and the Yucatan can get somewhere safe. And hopefully the bitch will chill out before she gets up to us.
I’m not ready to panic, but I have a sort of queasy bad feeling about this one…
My local talk radio station has been using it.
Category 5 now, but the experts do not think it will be able to sustain that strength. It still looks like it will hit South Florida, around Punta Gorda, but we could see gusts of 50-75 mph in Central Florida. I guess my plans to attend a FairTax education conference are officialy kaput. 
We’ve got our ice machine on max, and will probably get the ice chests handy to move the stuff from the freezer.
Be smart. Get ready.
You can always flee back to Ohio, Shibb. All is forgiven. Remember, Marietta never forgets.
Holy shit!
That’s it. I am never living on the Gulf Coast again. Uh-uh.
I thought that it was Rock-n-Roll that never forgets?
Anyway, I tried that once. I went back to Ohio, but my family was gone. I stood on the back porch, but there was nobody home.
Thanks, Shibb. Now I have an image in my head of a sad-eyed puppy dog who ran away from his new home, made it back to his old home after many trials, near escapes, and adventures, only to find the house boarded up, the yard overgrown with weeds. Poor puppy is laying on the porch, whimpering.
Welcome to Central Florida Clothahump. Despite the weather, did you know it’s Biketoberfest in Daytona this weekend? Lots to see and do. Plus, it’s a little further north of Orlando.
As God is my witness I don’t understand why Chrissie Hynde lets Limbaugh use that song.
Rock and Roll never forgets in Detroit. But no one went there so the cool cats hand out in Marietta.
I’m supposed to play for an outdoor jazz festival in Orlando on Saturday. The organizers haven’t decided yet if they’re cancelling the festival and they just called to ask how big a tent we’d need to cover the band.
Too bad. Last year weather was perfect. 0% chance of rain.
I’ll be watching TWC aka the Bad Hair Channel. You watch it and tell me if that isn’t some of the worst hair you’ve ever seen.
Everybody stock up on essentials and stay safe. I missed all the hurricanes that hit Florida last year while I was down in Miami, but now that I live in Orlando, I’m checking the NOAA website and hoping for the best for all of us. I have lots of family and friends in Dade and Broward Counties, and I’m praying Wilma passes over all of us as quickly and safely as possible.
If you click on the url in my OP, the 11am 10/19 advisory has it shifting a bit north.
I have a bad feeling about this.
I can’t even watch The Weather Channel anymore. They’ve become very fluffy lately. It’s now weather for idiots. Give me NWS any day over them because I like my weather news straight forward and factual. But I do agree, they’ve got some crappy crappy hairdos.
Wow 884 mb. The NHC won’t yet “officially” call it the strongest hurricane ever, but I’m sure they will soon. And that should be the strongest hurricane since records began only 100 or so years ago. Who knows what’s been out there in the thousands of years before that.
Some good news in all this darkness:
Hopefully Wilma has peaked. Usually they can’t hold this strength for too long. Also conditions in the Gulf and as she approaches FL won’t be as good for her health.
She’ll be moving fast over FL, so that will reduce the heavy rainfall threat.
She’s a tight hurricane so her most intense winds are tightly clustered around the very small eye. This means while the damage could be extensive, it will be in a narrow path. Think Charley here.
And once she exits FL and moves up the coast, she’ll probably usher in the first fall weather for all of FL.
All the models have been pretty consistent on the track showing her going over the big lake pretty much which is bad news for South FL, but good news for Central FL.
I’m saying Wilma comes ashore at Ft. Myers and exit at Vero Beach. Your picks?
Oh, oh. Orlando could be in trouble.
That line that takes it through Orlando puts it up the mouth of Tampa Bay. If that happens it would be VERY VERY BAD. Of course that’s just one course, and it would depend a lot on the tides, but if we get the wrong confluence of circumstances we could get some wicked storm surge in our area. I think my house is about 1-2 miles from the top mouth of Tampa Bay. I’m not sure what our elevation is, but it can’t be much more than 10’ above sea level. I kind of don’t want to think about it.
Ya see, this is why this particular cracker moved out of state (well, hurricanes, and too many Yankees). My Dad & Sister are in Melbourne but at least this time it’ll be coming from the land side so should be weaker.
Charley was bad for us. Although we only lost power for about six hours, my MIL’s porch was destroyed, and co-workers didn’t get power back for a week.
I was mainly talking about completely destroying your house type damage Ivylass. But of course anyone who has lived without power and A/C for a week will attest that it sucks big time. Hopefully for your area Wilma will move in a NE or ENE direction and not a NNE to N direction like ole Charley did when he came ashore. I’m hoping for the best for your and Shibb’s areas, but that will be the worst for my family and friends in WPB and Lauderdale.
My BIL/SIL live in Clermont and have the biggest generator I’ve ever seen in my life.
I think my MIL’s big ole Jersey hair is really gonna blow in WPB. 
Yeah, my wife is starting to freak out already. Called me before 8 in the morning to tell me that it had ramped up to 5, and when I told her that it really couldn’t sustain that strength, I could tell it didn’t help to ease her mind. Oh, for a crystal ball …