And now, Wilma

last updated 8 January 2015

Yucatán Peninsula

This year’s hurricane season tied the record for the busiest in history this week, when Hurricane Wilma formed in the Caribbean. Wilma became the 21st named storm of the year, equaling a mark set in 1933 and exhausting this year’s list of preselected storm names. (If there are more storms, their names will come from the Greek alphabet.) Wilma was expected to strengthen as it swirled toward Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, which it could reach by Friday. From there, forecasters said it could cross the Gulf of Mexico and threaten Florida. “The message,” said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, “is that the season is certainly not over.”