>I was worried for you down there when I saw it became a Cat 5 overnight. They are saying it will be Cat 2 when it hit Florida...still powerful, but much better than a Cat 5. I'll be watching it's path and keeping you in mind.

We expect it to be more like a Cat 3 when it hits. It was surprising to grow so much in two hours. The overnight strengh gain was expected to get i to cat 4. But they saw the lowest pressure ever recorded (882 MB - 26.05 inches).

It cannot maintain that level of strength (Cat 5) given the energy required for that feat so it will definitely weaken some. Once it crosses Fla, being flat and swampland (Everglades) it is not expected to weaken much so it will still be strong on the other end (east coast).

The key questions are where is it going to make landfall as the strongest winds are always close to the eye and on the right side due to its counter-clockwise rotation. We'll have to wait and see. Preparations have started.

It is somewhat fascinating (in a detached-scientific way) to watch the big tracking screens in our computer center here.