Cooler Temperatures On The Way....New Record For Hurricane Wilma

From meteorologist Jason Myers.........

Temperatures will warm into the upper 80s today, yet a cold front will move through today bringing a slight chance of a thunderstorm or shower for the northern Big Country. The cold front will help cool things down as we head into the weekend. Thursday high temperatures will reach 80 degrees, yet Friday and Saturday temperatures will stay in the mid-70s. Sunday temperatures cool down even more with highs in the upper-60s. High pressure will be filtering in cool, Canadian air and give us partly cloudy to sunny skies. So with all the events going on this weekend, it will be a great time to be outdoors!

Hurricane Wilma has really intensified overnight. At 11pm winds were at 110 mph, but by 2 am winds jumped up to 175 mph! Hurricane Wilma is a category 5 Hurricane. An Air Force Reconnaissance plane reported a a minimum pressure of 884 mb which is the lowest pressure ever recorded, making this the strongest storm on record, ever in the Atlantic basin. Wilma's low minimum pressure of 884 mb beat Hurricane Gilbert's (1988) lowest pressure of 888 mb.
Wilma is near it's maximum potential intensity and further strengthening is not anticipated (NHC). Hurricane Wilma looks to make a strong turn to the northeast taking it over Florida by the weekend.

Here's the latest from the National Hurricane Center (NHC):

...WILMA MAINTAINING CATEGORY FIVE STATUS...RECORD PRESSURE CONFIRMED BY AIRCRAFT CREW...

AT 8 AM EDT...1200Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 82.8 WEST OR ABOUT 340 MILES...550 KM...SOUTHEAST OF COZUMEL MEXICO. WILMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH...13 KM/HR. A TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 175 MPH...280 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. WILMA IS A POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE COMMON IN HURRICANES THIS INTENSE AND ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 15 MILES... 30 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 160 MILES...260 KM.

We'll keep you updated with the latest here on KRBC 9!