Hurricane Wilma, currently churning in the Caribbean Sea, went batshit bonkers today. There’s no better way to put it. The storm’s minimum central pressure dropped a ridiculous 76mb in 14 hours (!), bottoming out at 901mb. Or, rather, not bottoming out, as the storm still appears to be deepening further.

So much for Rita’s record.

UPDATE: One hour later, and the minimum central pressure is down to 892mb, the second lowest ever observed in the Atlantic Basin. The eye is a mere two nautical miles in diameter. Honestly, I’m surprised the eye was able to contract to such a small size. It’s 2005, though, so I guess anything’s possible.

UPDATE (AGAIN): Woke up this morning to 882mb. This is the lowest pressure ever observed in the Atlantic Basin. The previous record, set by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, was 888mb.