Oct 17, 11:16 PM EDT
By JOHN PAIN
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI (AP) -- Wilma, the record-tying 21st tropical storm of the
season, formed in the Caribbean on Monday, and forecasters warned
it could become a powerful hurricane and hit somewhere along the
U.S. Gulf Coast as early as the weekend.
"I think the message is that the season is certainly not over.
People in the Gulf Coast are going to have to watch Wilma," said
National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield. The Atlantic
hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Wilma reached tropical-storm strength before dawn, tying the
21-storm record set in 1933. By Tuesday, it could become the
season's 12th hurricane, which would match another record: There
were 12 hurricanes in 1969, the highest number since Atlantic
record-keeping started in 1851.
At 11 p.m. EDT, Wilma had top sustained winds of about 65 mph, up
25 mph from earlier in the day. It was centered about 250 miles
south-southeast of Grand Cayman and was drifting westward at 2
mph.
A hurricane watch was issued for the Cayman Islands, meaning
hurricane conditions could be felt there within 36 hours. The storm
was expected to bring 2 to 6 inches of rain in the Caymans, Cuba,
Haiti, Honduras and Jamaica, with as much as 12 inches possible in
some areas.
"We're on alert but we're not panicking," said Tootie Eldemire,
owner of the Eldemire Guest House on Grand Cayman.
Some computer models had Wilma heading west to Mexico's Yucatan
Peninsula by Friday, while others showed it curving north into the
Gulf of Mexico and northeastward toward Florida over the weekend.
However, such models typically have large errors this far in
advance.
"There's no scenario now that takes it toward Louisiana or
Mississippi, but that could change," Mayfield said. The Gulf Coast
was already battered this year by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and
Dennis, and Emily hit Mexico.
The hurricane center said Wilma could strengthen into a major
hurricane, with winds over 110 mph.
Mayfield noted that there have been 10 late-season hurricanes of
Category 3 or higher since 1995.
Wilma is the last on the list of storm names for 2005; there are 21
names on the yearly list because the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are
skipped. If any other storms form this season, the Greek alphabet
will be used, starting with Alpha.
That has never happened in the roughly 60 years that forecasters
have been regularly naming Atlantic storms.