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 MIAMI (AP) - Wilma, the record-tying 21st tropical storm of the season, formed in the Caribbean on Monday, and forecasters warned it could become a powerful hurricane and hit somewhere along the U.S. Gulf Coast as early as the weekend.
"I think the message is that the season is certainly not over. People in the Gulf Coast are going to have to watch Wilma," said National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Wilma reached tropical-storm strength before dawn, tying the 21-storm record set in 1933. By Tuesday, it could become the season's 12th hurricane, which would match another record: There were 12 hurricanes in 1969, the highest number since Atlantic record-keeping started in 1851.
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