Nicky and Stephen, Met June 8, 1998, Married June 8, 2000

Wow! Looks like we have survived the front wall of the hurricane. Pressure is down to 963mb(28.43). Sustained winds have been 80 to 90 mph with gusts in the low 100's .Power went off at 7:19 this morning. The wind just howls and a few times we have heard things either hitting the roof or the roof tiles coming off. Ventured out for just a few moments to survey the damage and the door blew shut, locking us out. Thanks to our neighbors we were able to get back in. Lots of tree damage. Alot of trees have their tops sheared off. The road is flooded with water and inching its way up our driveway. Will post the photos after the power is restored. Hopefully only a few more hours to go. Then a nice cool evening in the 50's to look forward to.

 

Hurricane Wilma is now a strong category 3 with sustained winds of 125 mph and gusts up to 150 mph. The latest recon flight found maximum flight winds of 123 kts in the northeast quadrant. That translates to 140 mph. That would make Wilma now a category 4. We'll see if the NHC makes that official.

The winds have been picking up pretty steadily. We have recorded winds here in the 30's but I'm sure they're higher. Hopefully our weather station doesn't blow away. The power has flickered off a few times but has quickly returned. That won't last. We have heard some transformers blowing already.

The air pressure has also been dropping as the center gets ever so closer. We are currently seeing 987 mb (29.08 in).

The cats have been a little spooked by the wind and rain pounding the storm shutters. We tried to get a little sleep but it gets hard with the winds howling outside.

 

Hurricane Wilma's winds have increased to 110 mph. Her pressure is down to 958. Most likely it will increase in intensity before making landfall as a category 3 major hurricane.

Looks like a rough night ahead.

 

Hurricane Wilma continues to get stronger.

Her winds have officially been raised to 105 mph (gusts up to 125 mph). She is moving northeast at 14 mph and her pressure is down to 959 mb. "Additional strengthening" is forecasted.

Now the NHC is saying to plan for a category 3 hurricane.

Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood International Airport is closing at 8:00 p.m. tonight. Broward County schools are closed through Tuesday. The Nine Inch Nails concert for Monday night has been cancelled.

 

Wilma is heading our way. We're starting to see the center in the Key West radar.

The forecast is she makes landfall tomorrow morning on the west coast of Florida then makes her way northeast across Florida. Right now the NHC is keeping the official winds at 100 mph but the Hurricane Hunters found a wind of 105 mph at one point. The eyewall is 60 miles across so we'll be feeling some potential category 2 winds.. maybe higher. If Wilma continues as projected then she will be the stongest hurricane to hit Broward county since 1947.

Most of our shutters are up. We left a couple off to let in some light but they'll be up tonight.

 

It's official. 2005 is the busiest hurricane season on record.

Tropical Storm Alpha has formed in the Caribbean.

 

"We were hiking past the White House late one night ...
When our eyes beheld an eerie sight ...

The president appeared, with folks very strange
The zombies and vampires of global climate change.

'Its not global warming,' say oil company disciples
‘According to our math, its natural weather cycles.'

Claims from these and other industry heavies let
The president rest behind his own protective levees

(the climate mash)
they're doing the climate mash
(the climate mash)
Real science is bashed
(the climate mash)
solutions are trashed
(the climate mash)
and they do it for the cash

The creatures were having fun
Our congress was overrun
We couldn't tell the mindless zombies
From the elected ones.

Now we do know how to stop this, we have the technology
But first we have to get past industry ideology.

We need your help, I'm glad to show you how;
Tell your leaders in Washington to save our climate now."

» Do it!

 

A Hurricane Watch has been issued for the Keys. That watch will likely be extended north this afternoon. Mandatory evacuations will begin at noon today for the Keys.

Hurricane Wilma is battering Cancun as she slowly moves northward. She is a category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph and gusts as high as 140mph. Wilma will come off the Yucatan as a category 3 and will hit southwest Florida as a category 2 on Monday morning. The topography here is pretty flat and with the Everglades she will likely be able to hold her strength as she moves over us. She will also be moving at a pretty good clip so with us on the south side of this storm we could feel category 3 force winds.

Let's get it on.



A couple images taken Wednesday, Oct. 19 from the International Space Station.

 

Yes, you read that right. We have Tropical Depression #25. This one isn't projected to hit the U.S. but you never know this early in the game.

In the words of Jack Nicholson "Heeeeeere's Alpha!"

 

"We all know "Welcome to the Jungle"... so with Max Mayfield from the National Hurricane Center saying "hey, get used to it" (paraphrased of course) this is our little tribute to the tropics."

Go to it!

 

Stephen scored as Tom Zarek.

"You began your career as a terrorist, but that was so your voice could be heard. You alone know the right path, and anyone who gets in your way is fighting against the good of you all. Still, you can wait, and you can fight your war in any arena."

Tom Zarek 75% CPO Galen Tyrol 63% Capt. Lee Adama (Apollo) 63% Dr Gaius Baltar 50% President Laura Roslin 50% Commander William Adama 44% Lt. Kara Thrace (Starbuck) 38% Lt. Sharon Valerii (Boomer) 38% Number 6 31% Col. Saul Tigh 25% What New Battlestar Galactica character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Nicky scored as CPO Galen Tyrol.

"You never wanted to be a glamourous Viper pilot. You are happy knowing that without you to fix their birds, they cannot fly. You fell in love with the wrong girl, but is that so wrong? Maybe, but you don't really care."

CPO Galen Tyrol 75% Dr Gaius Baltar 63% Capt. Lee Adama (Apollo) 56% Commander William Adama 50% Tom Zarek 50% Lt. Sharon Valerii (Boomer) 44% Lt. Kara Thrace (Starbuck) 38% Col. Saul Tigh 38% President Laura Roslin 31% Number 6 31% What New Battlestar Galactica character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

 

Cozumel is getting pounded by Hurricane Wilma. Her winds are at 145 mph with gusts up to 180 mph.

Wilma is expected to make landfall on the northeastern Yucatan tonight. It is still unknown whether she will slow down or not. If Wilma slows down and lingers over the Yucatan Peninsula we do not expect her here until Monday, and even then she won't be that strong of a storm. If she speeds over land into the Gulf then she has more of a chance to reintensify and hit us sooner. Wait and see, I guess.

We are getting some of the outermost rainbands coming through now.

 

Still watching... still waiting...

Hurricane Wilma is moving towards the Yucatan Peninsula.. slowly. Her winds are at 150 mph (gust to 185 mph) with a pressure of 918 mb. She is expected to produce 20 inches of rain over western Cuba with isolated amounts as high as 40 inches.

Wilma's slow movement pushes the probable Florida landfall into late Sunday or early Monday. The guidance models continue to focus on a lower central or south Florida landfall. This is reminiscent of Hurricane Jeanne last year who took her time coming ashore. She spent a couple of extra days doing a loop in the Atlantic.

Naples, on the west coast of Florida, is starting a mandatory evacuation at noon tomorrow. The Keys are also performing a mandatory evacuation tomorrow. A state of emergency was declared by Gov. Bush today.

 

Watching and waiting...

Hurricane Wilma is still a category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph (gusting to 195 mph!!). Her pressure is a very low 892 mb. At one point she dipped as low as 882 mb, never before seen in the Atlantic basin. She beat out Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 who had a low pressure of 888 mb. Katrina's lowest pressure was 902 mb and Rita's lowest was 897 mb. Gilbert had top winds of 185 mph, the others reached 175 mph.

This is also the first time ever that three category 5 hurricanes have formed in the same season.

Wilma is wobbling around a bit, confusing the computer models in the process. She is still forecast to come in our direction. They just don't know when, where, and at what intensity. It is anywhere between Saturday and Monday.

Tourists and non-residents are being evacuated from the Keys. Schools in the Keys are closed Thursday and Friday. They are also under a state of emergency. Broward schools are closing at noon on Friday. Stores are already running low on supplies such as water. Gas stations are also running out of fuel.

We'll be putting up our shutters either tomorrow night or Friday depending on forecasts.

 

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Nothing is moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What happened?"

"Terrorists kidnapped President Bush and are asking for a $10 million ransom. Otherwise they are going to douse him with gasoline and set him on fire. We are going from car to car to take up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much is everyone giving on average?"

"About a gallon........"

 

Here we have Hurricane Wilma. The 21st tropical system of the 2005 season. The first time ever that we've hit "W" in the list.

As of 8:00 p.m., Wilma was at 100 mph winds with a pressure of 954 mb. The pressure is dropping 1 mb every 10 minutes. This is similar in intensification as when Rita went from a category 3 to a category 5.

The computer models and official forecasts also have Wilma coming straight for us. Her arrival will probably be sometime Saturday night into Sunday... as a category 3.

We bought a few extra provisions but we're still pretty well stocked from Katrina. We will definitely have to put up our shutters for this one.

 

Ruffles have ridges.

» http://www.pxite.com

 

Tender flutterby.

» http://www.godamonginsects.com/tuesday/index.php

 

That is soft.

» http://moodymonday.org