Storm history of Hurricane Wilma
2005 hurricane / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The meteorological history of Hurricane Wilma, the strongest tropical cyclone known in the Western Hemisphere, began in the second week of October 2005. A big weather system formed across much of the Caribbean Sea and slowly organized to the southeast of Jamaica. By late on October 15, the system was became strong for the National Hurricane Center to name it Tropical Depression Twenty-Four.
It has been suggested that this article be merged with Hurricane Wilma. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2024. |
Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Formed | October 15, 2005 |
---|---|
Dissipated | October 25, 2005 |
Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 185 mph (295 km/h) |
Lowest pressure | 882 mbar (hPa); 26.05 inHg (Record low in Atlantic) |
Areas affected | Jamaica, Haiti, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Yucatán Peninsula, Florida, Bahamas, Atlantic Canada |
Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season | |
The depression slowly moved southwestward, and in conditions that were good for strengthening, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Wilma on October 17. In the beginning, development was slow because of its large size, although thunderstorms slowly organized. From October 18, and over the next day, Wilma underwent explosive deepening over the open waters of the Caribbean; in a 30-hour period, the system's central atmospheric pressure dropped from 982 mbar (29.00 inHg) to the record-low value of 882 mbar (26.05 inHg), while the winds increased to 185 mph (300 km/h). At its strongest, the pinhole eye of Wilma was about 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, the smallest known eye in an Atlantic hurricane. After the inner eye died off because of an eyewall replacement cycle, Wilma weakened to Category 4 status, and on October 21, it made landfall on Cozumel and on the Mexican mainland with winds of about 150 mph (240 km/h).
Wilma weakened over the Yucatán Peninsula, and reached the southern Gulf of Mexico before speeding up northeastward. Despite increasing amounts of wind shear, the hurricane re-strengthened to hit Cape Romano, Florida as a major hurricane. Wilma weakened as it quickly crossed the state, and entered the Atlantic Ocean near Jupiter, Florida. The hurricane again re-intensified before cold air and wind shear penetrated the inner core of convection. On October 26, it turned into an extratropical cyclone, and the next day, the remnants of Wilma were absorbed by another extratropical storm over Atlantic Canada.