Hurricane Wilma weakened overnight to a category 4 hurricane. Meteorologists say it will strike Mexico late tomorrow and then turn towards southwest Florida. The storm has wobbled in the last 24 hours. But forecasters haven’t changed their prediction models. They still expect Wilma to strike the west coast of Florida this weekend. But the timing and the power of the hurricane have shifted. National Hurricane Center meteorologist Jennifer Pralgo says it appears southwest Florida is in the direct path for a Sunday landfall. But the storm won’t be as strong.

“Well, at this point, they should be preparing for a category 3 hurricane and hoping for a category 2. We always ask that you prepare for a category higher.”

A category two storm has winds up to 110 miles per hour. A cat 3…130. But Pralgo points out those are still hurricane force winds that can do a lot of damage.

According to state emergency managers - Florida residents south of Tampa need to prepare as if a major hurricane is going to impact them sometime this weekend. On its current projected path – Hurricane Wilma could make landfall somewhere along the southwest Florida coast on Sunday.

Wilma will go down in the record books as the fastest strengthening storm that’s ever been recorded. Wilma’s winds increased from about 100 miles an hour to more than 175 in less than three hours last night. State meteorologist - Ben Nelson – says what happens during the next 24 hours will determine where Wilma heads next.

“Once Wilma enters the Gulf we’ll have a cold front advancing into the central gulf states and that’s expected to change the steering currents around and accelerate Wilma to the northeast or perhaps east-northeast. The timing of that front – just how fast Wilma moves between now and Friday – that’s going to all have a major impact of exactly who, if anybody in the state of Florida, is going to be impacted by this.”

Nelson expects Wilma to continue decreasing in strength. But, he says, it’ll remain over warm waters as it enters the Gulf of Mexico and still be a very strong storm.

As Hurricane moves closer to the state’s coast, Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush testified before a Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill Wednesday. He responded to questions about how the military should work with state and local governments in responding to disasters. From ouR Capitol Hill Bureau, Terry Gildea reports.

Hurricane Wilma began as strongest hurricane to date in this record-breaking hurricane season. Although Wilma weakened last night to a category 4 hurricane with winds exceeding 150 miles an hour, she will likely fluctuate in strength over the next 24 hours yet remain very dangerous. The storm could re-intensify today. State Meteorologist Ben Nelson says hurricane reconnaissance aircraft initially reported a record, minimum central pressure of near 882 millibars, the lowest ever measured in a hurricane in the Atlantic Basin.

"Long before any potential threat to the state of Florida, Wilma is going to go down in the record books as the fastest strengthening storm that we've observed in our era of records going back to the 1850's. We had a drop of about 78 millibars pressure in 9 hours, that's the fastest intensification we've ever had."

Along with the record low pressure, Wilma ties with the 1969 season as the 12th hurricane to form in the Atlantic basin. She is also is the 21st named storm of the 2005 Hurricane Season, matching 1933 as the most active hurricane season on record.

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Flu season is just around the corner and senior citizens from around Southwest Florida are lining up for their annual flu shots. Last year the process was complicated by a shortage of vaccine. This year some seniors are worried about a flu for which there is no vaccine – but has gotten a lot media attention. WGCU’s Valerie Alker has more.

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