Anniversary of Hurricane Wilma

This weekend is the anniversary of Hurricane Wilma slamming into SouthFlorida. Wilma came onshore near Everglades City on October 24, 2005, withwinds of 120 mph. Less than five hours later, the storm emerged off Florida'seast coast, southeast of Jupiter as a Category 2 hurricane.Wilma dumped 3 to 7 inches of rain on South Florida. The fast pace of thestorm kept these totals from being substantially higher. The region was alsopounded by 10 tornadoes and a 4- to 8-foot storm surge produced by Wilma. Atone point, 98 percent of the area was without power. The storm caused $32.6billion (2009 U.S. dollars) in damages in South Florida.

Prior to slamming South Florida, Wilma strengthened into a powerful Category5 hurricane in the western Caribbean on the 19th. Maximum-sustained windshowled at 175 mph. Wilma's central minimum pressure had dropped to 882millibars, the lowest pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic. The storm thenpounded the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula as a dangerous Category 4hurricane on the 22nd.