Wilma Strengthens to Category 5; May Threaten Florida

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urricane Wilma strengthened in the southern Caribbean Sea Wednesday into the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, a Category 5 storm with 175 mph winds that forecasters warned could strike Florida's West Coast by the weekend, news services reported.

Wilma was already dousing Central America and Mexico with rain, and the National Hurricane Center put it on a potential track eastward away from the oil-producing Gulf Coast region that was hit hard twice by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September.

The hurricane center warned Florida residents to monitor the storm closely. Category 5 is the highest of five levels and hurricanes in that level have sustained winds of 156 mph or greater.

Wilma was stronger than the Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys in 1935, which was the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record, the Associated Press reported.

But Wilma wasn't expected to keep its record strength for long, as higher disruptive atmospheric winds in the Gulf of Mexico around the hurricane were likely weaken the storm before it makes any landfall, AP said.