WTUS82 KMLB 230359 HLSMLB AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 231000- HURRICANE WILMA LOCAL STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1155 PM EDT SAT OCT 22 2005 ...EAST CENTRAL FLORIDIANS SHOULD EXPECT TO WAKE UP TO HURRICANE AND TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS EARLY SUNDAY MORNING... ...NEW INFORMATION... WARNINGS HAVE NOW BEEN ISSUED FOR THE WEST COAST OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA...AND EXTEND INLAND TO INCLUDE LAKE OKEECHOBEE. WARNINGS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ISSUED FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. ...WATCHES AND WARNINGS... ON THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ATLANTIC COAST...A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM JUPITER INLET TO TITUSVILLE...WITH A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IN EFFECT NORTH OF TITUSVILLE EXTENDING TO NEAR THE FLORIDA AND GEORGIA BORDER. AN INLAND HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR OKEECHOBEE...OSCEOLA AND ORANGE COUNTIES. AN INLAND TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR LAKE...SEMINOLE AND INTERIOR VOLUSIA COUNTIES. A HURRICANE WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR LAKE OKEECHOBEE. ...AREAS AFFECTED... THIS STATEMENT RECOMMENDS ACTIONS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN IN BREVARD...VOLUSIA...SAINT LUCIE...MARTIN...INDIAN RIVER... OKEECHOBEE...ORANGE...SEMINOLE...VOLUSIA AND LAKE COUNTIES. ...STORM INFORMATION... AT 11 PM EDT...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 21.8 NORTH AND LONGITUDE 86.9 WEST OR ABOUT 375 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA. WILMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AT 3 MPH WITH A TURN TOWARD THE NORTHEAST EXPECTED ON SUNDAY. DURING SUNDAY...WILMA IS ALSO EXPECTED TO ACCELERATE ITS FORWARD MOVEMENT. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS...MAKING WILMA A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE. SOME STRENGTHENING IS LIKELY TO OCCUR ON SUNDAY. ...PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA WITHIN 36 HOURS. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. HURRICANE WILMA IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF FLORIDA VERY EARLY ON MONDAY AND ACCELERATE VERY RAPIDLY ACROSS THE PENINSULA DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ALL PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY BE COMPLETED DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE MORNING...AS WEATHER WILL BE DETERIORATING RAPIDLY LATER IN THE DAY. CHECK WITH COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR THE LOCATIONS OF SHELTERS... PARTICULARLY FOR THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND PEOPLE LIVING IN MANUFACTURED OR MOBILE HOMES. BREVARD COUNTY HAS ISSUED A MANDATORY EVACUATION OF MOBILE AND MANUFACTURED HOMES AND WILL BE OPENING SHELTERS AT 10 AM SUNDAY. DO NOT FOCUS ON THE EXACT TRACK OF WILMA AS THE AREA OF GREATEST IMPACT WILL NOT BE KNOWN UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT OR EARLY MONDAY. THERE REMAINS SOME UNCERTAINTY IN THE EXACT TRACK. IF YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA IMPLEMENT YOUR ACTION PLAN AND EXPECT THE ISSUANCE OF WARNINGS EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. DO NOT GET CAUGHT OFF-GUARD OR DELAY YOUR ACTIONS. DO NOT ASSUME A WAIT AND SEE ATTITUDE AS THERE MAY NOT BE TIME TO REACT IF THERE IS ANY DEVIATION TO THE FORECAST TRACK. ALL EAST CENTRAL FLORIDIANS ARE STRONGLY URGED TO MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR HURRICANE AND TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS. ...WIND IMPACTS... OVERALL...THE GREATEST THREAT FROM WILMA ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA IS THE THREAT FOR DESTRUCTIVE WIND. THE TROPICAL STORM FORCE WIND FIELD IS VERY LARGE WITH WILMA AND THEREFORE WILL ARRIVE WELL BEFORE THE APPROACH OF THE CORE WINDS. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN ACROSS OKEECHOBEE...OSCEOLA...MARTIN... SAINT LUCIE AND INDIAN RIVER COUNTIES VERY EARLY MONDAY MORNING WITH THE POTENTIAL TO SPREAD ACROSS BREVARD...ORANGE...LAKE... SEMINOLE...AND VOLUSIA COUNTIES STARTING BEFORE 8 AM. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT OKEECHOBEE...MARTIN...SOUTHERN OSCEOLA AND SAINT LUCIE COUNTIES BY MID MORNING AND THEN SPREAD INTO INDIAN RIVER AND SOUTHERN BREVARD COUNTIES. BECAUSE THE OF THE RAPID MOVEMENT OF WILMA...WINDS WILL BE HIGHEST IMMEDIATELY NEAR THE CENTER AND TO THE RIGHT. IT IS LIKELY A BAND OF VERY DESTRUCTIVE WINDS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 100 MPH WILL MOVE ACROSS THE PENINSULA MONDAY MORNING. IMPORTANTLY...THE LOCATIONS THAT MAY EXPERIENCE THE GREATEST WIND IMPACT WILL NOT BE KNOWN UNTIL MONDAY MORNING AND BY THAT TIME WILMA WILL BE MOVING VERY FAST. DO NOT FOCUS ON THE EXACT CENTER TRACK. TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON AND BEGIN WEAKENING RAPIDLY BY LATE AFTERNOON AS WILMA CONTINUES TO MOVE OFFSHORE INTO THE ATLANTIC. ...TORNADO IMPACTS... LATE SEASON TROPICAL CYCLONES APPROACHING FLORIDA FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO HAVE A GREATER RISK OF PRODUCING STRONG TORNADOES ESPECIALLY WHEN INTERACTING WITH FRONTAL BOUNDARIES AND FAST FORWARD SPEED AS IS ANTICIPATED WITH WILMA. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH OUTER RAINBANDS SUNDAY AND THEN TORNADO THREAT WILL INCREASE LATER SUNDAY AND BE THE HIGHEST WITH THE APPROACH OF THE CENTRAL RAINBANDS OF WILMA LATER SUNDAY INTO EARLY MONDAY...AND CONTINUING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. A TORNADO WATCH WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED ON SUNDAY. RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE ISSUANCE OF TORNADO WARNINGS SUNDAY AND MONDAY AND TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY. THE TORNADO THREAT WILL ARRIVE BEFORE THE MAIN WIND THREAT. ...FLOOD IMPACTS... BECAUSE OF THE EXPECTED FAST MOVEMENT OF WILMA WIDESPREAD EXCESSIVE RAINFALL IS NOT EXPECTED. HOWEVER...RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF SEVERAL INCHES MAY OCCUR IN HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY AHEAD OF WILMA. IN ADDITION...THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES SETTING UP IN OUTER RAINBANDS THAT MAY LEAD TO LOCALLY EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. WHILE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PINPOINT EXACTLY WHERE THIS MIGHT OCCUR ...IT APPEARS THAT THE COASTAL COUNTIES WILL BE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO THE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL POTENTIAL. IF YOU LIVE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA...OR IN AN AREA THAT IS ALREADY EXPERIENCING DRAINAGE PROBLEMS...DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. A FLOOD WATCH WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED ON SUNDAY. RESIDENTS SHOULD LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. THE FLOODING THREAT WILL ARRIVE BEFORE THE MAIN WIND THREAT AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY. ...STORM SURGE FLOOD AND STORM TIDE IMPACTS... BECAUSE OF THE ANTICIPATED RAPID MOVEMENT OF WILMA AND THE MOVEMENT OFFSHORE INTO THE ATLANTIC...STORM SURGE AND COASTAL FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE OF HIGH IMPACT. HOWEVER...A STORM TIDE OF PERHAPS 3 OR 4 FEET IS POSSIBLE NEAR THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE AROUND MID DAY MONDAY NORTH OF WHERE THE CENTER OF WILMA MOVES OFFSHORE. EXTREMELY ROUGH SURF...BEACH EROSION...AND DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG ALL OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA BEACHES AS WILMA MOVES OUT INTO THE ATLANTIC. ...MARINE IMPACTS... THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM FOR MARINERS DUE TO ITS RAPID APPROACH AND ACCELERATION FROM THE SOUTHWEST ON MONDAY. MARINE CONDITIONS WILL QUICKLY BECOME HAZARDOUS DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY WITH BUILDING SEAS AND THEN BECOME EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ON MONDAY AS WILMA MOVES INTO THE COASTAL WATERS PERHAPS MOVING AS FAST AS 30 KNOTS. MARINERS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT. SMALL CRAFT SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR. ...NEXT UPDATE... THE REGULAR ISSUANCE OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL AFTER WILMA PASSES. ALL HAZARDOUS WEATHER INFORMATION FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WILL BE CONTAINED IN HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENTS. THE NEXT HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY NWS MELBOURNE BY 6 AM...OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT. A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT CAN BE VIEWED ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB PAGE AT... WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MLB AND CLICKING ON WILMA LOCAL INFO. $$ DWS