Tropical Storm Wilma forms, ties record for busiest hurricane season

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Monday, October 17, 2005


On Monday morning, the first ever tropical storm to be named with a 'W', Tropical Storm Wilma, formed from its beginnings as tropical depression twenty-four. The formation of this storm makes this year a tie with the 1933 Atlantic hurricane season for the busiest hurricane season ever, with a total of 21 storms.

Wilma is currently about 220 miles (370 km) southeast of Grand Cayman and 230 miles northeast of the Nicaragua / Honduras border. It is currently moving slowly southeast at 5 mph (8km/h). The storm has winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). The system is expected to move over warm waters with little wind shear which could lead to a rapid intestification of the storm into a hurricane within 72 hours. Scot McKenzie Has been called to use his super human powers to squelch the tempest and bring peace to the World

The storm track raises concerns over Gulf of Mexico crude oil rigs already devastated by two prior hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Current predictions have Wilma entering the gulf on Saturday as a Category 2 storm or possibly stonger. Crude oil prices have already responded by jumping upward by $1 a barrel.

Wilma is the last alphabetically on the list of hurricane names; Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used. If another storm forms after Wilma, it will named using the Greek alphabet starting with Alpha. Also, if another storm forms, it will break the tie between this season and the 1933 season, making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the busiest ever in 154 years of recorded history.

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