Before I get to Hurricane Wilma, I did want to say Hurricane Richard made landfall just south of Belize City with maximum sustained winds of 90mph... I really wish I could have gone after Richard, but in fairness, it was such a tricky forecast! It was strengthening all the way to landfall, so it turned out to be a decent hurricane! Don't forget that strengthening hurricanes at landfall produce/verify higher surface wind speeds (more readily mix higher winds aloft to the surface)... The satellite images you see are of Hurricane Richard shortly before landfall this late afternoon/early evening!
Hurricane Wilma made landfall on the SW coast of Florida (Cape Romano) during the morning of October 24th with maximum sustained winds of 125mph (950mb)... The eye was massive, easily 50 miles wide at landfall! The highest offical winds during Wilma's landfall in Florida were 121mph at the Collier County EOC near Naples, 117mph at the Belle Glade SFWMD station, and 113mph at Loxahatchee... I have to say, that this is probably my biggest regret ever when it comes to chasing! I was a poor college student at the time, and I was worried about the chase terrain/avaibality in the Everglades, but regardless I should have made it happen! Everytime I watch video from Hurricane Wilma, it honestly pains me a little! lol...
Anyways, two of my friends did chase Hurricane Wilma, and they both shot some FANTASTIC video! The first link is video shot by Michael Laca (tropmet.com) on the SW coast of Florida (Belle Meade), and the second video is shot by Mike Theiss (ultimatechase.com) in Miami Beach... Enjoy!
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