ERC'S at landfall?

[Jim Cantore]

But either way its pretty amazing that Wilma may have made it back to CAT 5 just before it hit the coast...That storm was probably the fastest strengthener of all time (one night its a High end CAT 1 and the next morning its the strongest ever! When I saw that I almost fell out of my chair! I started rubbing my eyes to make sure they were correct and slapped myself in the face multiple times to make sure I wasnt dreaming)

same here, but I did fall out of my chair

[wxmann_91]

I actually think Wilma hitting the Yucatan helped it cause more damage to South Florida. Had Wilma not have made landfall it likely would have kept its smaller eyewall, and hence could have been less resilient to the shear and lower SST's. Also the smaller eyewall would have impacted less people.

No because the erc Wilma was going thru would've resulted in a large eye anyway. However, since the water and the shear values would've only supported Cat 4, lessening near the coast, Wilma would've been weakening as she made landfall, not strengthening. However, a more eastward track would've meant a catastrophe for the Keys (thousands dead possibly as Derek mentioned), and a greater impact for downtown Miami, and less impact further north.

[HurricaneBill]

Wasn't Frances an ERC junkie?

[MiamiensisWx]

True, HurricaneBill!