HURRICANE WILMA Traditional Cache
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Size: 
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This is one of my cache I have placed in the Livingston County Trail System. The Trail System is located near the exit 31 camping area in Grand Rivers , Ky. The trail system is open to the public from daylight until dark. The trails feature a 2 mile walking trail and a 3 mile bike trail. I have placed these cache in close proximity to the trails but some bushwacking may be required.
My proffesion during hurricane season is a Catastrophe Property Insurance Adjuster. I have been working these hurricanes for a few years now in Florida and along all Coastal States. I am starting a series of caches detailing some of the more memorable hurricanes in the last 50 years.
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense hurricane that has ever been recorded in the Atlantic basin. It devastated parts of the Yucatán Peninsula and southern Florida during October in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Wilma set numerous records for both strength and seasonal activity. Wilma was only the third Category 5 ever to develop in the month of October and with the formation of Hurricane Wilma, the 2005 season became the most active on record, exceeding the 21 storms of the 1933 season. Wilma was the twenty-second storm (including the subtropical storm discovered in reanalysis), thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking season.
Wilma made several landfalls, with the most destructive effects felt in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Cuba, and the U.S. state of Florida. At least 63 deaths were reported, and damage is estimated at over $28.9 billion ($20.6 billion in the US; 2005 US dollars),[1] ranking Wilma among the top 5 costliest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic and the third costliest storm in U.S. history.
A large area of disturbed weather developed across much of the Caribbean Sea from an upper-level low across the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. A broad area of low pressure developed on October 13 to the southeast of Jamaica, and slowly became more concentrated as upper-level wind shear gradually decreased. Dvorak classifications began on October 14, and by late on October 15 the surface circulation in the system became well-enough defined, with sufficiently organized deep convection, for the National Hurricane Center to designate the system as Tropical Depression Twenty-Four while located about 220 miles (345 km) east-southeast of Grand Cayman.[1]
Radar image of Hurricane Wilma making landfall in South FloridaThe depression drifted southwestward due to the influence of two ridges to its north, and with warm water temperatures and a favorable upper-level environment it strengthened into Tropical Storm Wilma on October 17. Initially, development was slow, due to the large size of the storm and a flat pressure gradient. However, convection gradually organized, and from October 18 through the 19th Wilma underwent explosive deepening over the open waters of the Caribbean. In a 30 hour period, the pressure dropped from 982 mbar to the record-low of 882 mbar, while the winds increased to 185 mph (300 km/h).
Wilma weakened after the inner eye dissipated and underwent an eyewall replacement cycle. It turned northwestward, and remained a powerful Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale after the outer 40 mile (65 km) became the dominant eyewall. Late on October 21 Wilma made landfall on Cozumel and later on the Mexican mainland with winds of about 150 mph (240 km/h).[1]
Wilma weakened to a moderate hurricane while over land, and reached the southern Gulf of Mexico on October 23. A powerful trough turned the hurricane to the northeast and caused to accelerate its forward motion. Its large eye remained well-organized, allowing Wilma to intensify despite increasing amounts of wind shear. It briefly reached winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) before hitting Cape Romano, Florida as a 120 mph (195 km/h) major hurricane. Wilma crossed the state in about 4.5 hours and weakened to winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) after entering the Atlantic Ocean near Jupiter. Possibly due to less friction of the eyewall or moving over warm waters of the Gulf Stream, Wilma again re-intensified to reach winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) before cold air and wind shear penetrated the inner core of convection. On October 26 it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and the next day the remnants of Wilma were absorbed by another extratropical storm over Atlantic Canada
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