Breaking News 7PM:
Ida is nearly a category 3 major hurricane. Winds have now reached 105 mph.. Now located 200 SSE of the Mouth of the Mississippi. Moving NW at 16 mph. Rapid Intensification is underway and that will continue tonight and before landfall Sunday. Ida is Expected to strengthen close to Category 4 hurricane status (130 mph). (cat 4 begins at 131 mph) It will be an extremely dangerous major hurricane at landfall on the Louisiana Sunday. A hurricane Warning covers the Louisiana coast to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans. Tropical Storm Warning as far east as the AL/FL line. For most of us, the main impacts from IDA will be tropical downpours, with locally heavy rainfall amounts, wind gusts up to 40+ mph, and a tropical tornado threat, which could begin late Sunday night or Monday morning. The greatest tornado risk will likely be Monday, especially Monday afternoon. The tornado threat may linger through Tuesday. The main impacts of Ida in Alabama will be west of I-65.
4PM NHC IDA UPDATE:
Category Two Hurricane Ida, is in the central Gulf of Mexico, moving NW at 16. Winds are now 105 mph. Rapid Intensification is underway and that will continue tonight and before landfall Sunday. Ida is Expected to strengthen close to Category 4 hurricane status (130 mph). (cat 4 begins at 131 mph) It will be an extremely dangerous major hurricane at landfall on the Louisiana Sunday. A hurricane Warning covers the Louisiana coast to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans. Tropical Storm Warning as far east as the AL/FL line. For most of us, the main impacts from IDA will be tropical downpours, with locally heavy rainfall amounts, wind gusts up to 40+ mph, and a tropical tornado threat, which could begin late Sunday night or Monday morning. The greatest tornado risk will likely be Monday, especially Monday afternoon. The tornado threat may linger through Tuesday. The main impacts of Ida in Alabama will be west of I-65.
1PM NHC Update on IDA: IDA is now a 100 mph Cat. 2 Hurricane, 290 miles SSE of the mouth of the Mississippi, moving NW at 16. NHC: Additional rapid strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it approaches the Louisiana coast on Sunday.
10AM NHC IDA UPDATE:
Hurricane Ida, is in the southeast Gulf of Mexico, moving NW at 16. Winds are still 85 mph. Rapid Intensification expected in the Gulf through tonight.. NHC says: Ida is Expected to strengthen close major Category 4 hurricane status (130 mph). (cat 4 begins at 131 mph) It will be an extremely dangerous major hurricane at landfall on the Louisiana Sunday. A hurricane Warning covers the Louisiana coast to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans. Tropical Storm Warning as far east as the AL/FL line. For most of us, the main impacts from IDA will be tropical downpours, with locally heavy rainfall amounts, wind gusts up to 40+ mph, and a tropical tornado threat, which could begin late Sunday night or Monday morning. The greatest tornado risk will likely be Monday, especially Monday afternoon. The tornado threat may linger through Tuesday. The main impacts of Ida in Alabama will be west of I-65.
Projected Rainfall amounts will be highest in the west and SW counties.
EARLY MORNING UPDATE
Good Morning! Here’s a brief discussion of the current Ida status and the risks for us.
HURRICANE IDA:
4:00pm (8/28/21) NHC IDA Update:
Hurricane Ida, is in the southeast Gulf of Mexico, moving NW at 16. Winds are still 80 mph. “Steady or rapid intensification” is expected in the Gulf. NHC says: Ida is Expected to strengthen into a major Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph over the Gulf. It will be an extremely dangerous major hurricane at landfall Sunday. A hurricane Warning covers the Louisiana coast to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans. Hurricane Watch as far east as the MS/AL line. Trop. Storm Warning as far east as the AL/FL line.
IDA IMPACTS IN ALABAMA: For most of us, the main impacts will be tropical downpours, with locally heavy rainfall amounts, wind gusts up to 40+ mph, and a tropical tornado threat, which could begin Monday morning. The greatest tornado risk will likely be Monday afternoon and evening. The main impacts of Ida in Alabama will be west of I-65.
The Tropical Tornado Risk across south and southwest Alabama will increase in pre-dawn hours of Monday morning. Notice, during the day Monday. The primary tornado threat will be along and west of I-65.
Wind gusts near 40 mph are not out of the question Monday. This is the EURO model. It even shows some near 40 mph wind gusts in east Alabama. The greatest wind swath, however will be west of I-65.
Rainfall will vary greatly across the state, from not much rain near the Georgia border, 1 to 2 inches in central Alabama, 4 to 6 inches in the western counties. Coastal Alabama will see excessive rainfall totals. But, look at the expected rainfall in southeast Louisiana. This would be a worse case scenario in New Orleans.
Here’s a summary of the risk. Although the worst weather for us will be Monday & Monday night, Ida’s tropical “plume” will still effect us with tropical downpours.
TODAY: Routine. High in the low 90’s. Heat index near or above 100. Sun/cloud mix. Spotty, scattered, random afternoon and evening storms. Low tonight 75.
NEXT FEW DAYS: Fairly routine Sunday. Ida will have a big impact Monday & Tuesday. Things start to return to normal Wednesday, as Ida’s tropical plume or tail begins to move away. Back to a routine forecast for early September Thursday, just in time for the start of the Labor Day weekend.
ELSEWHERE IN THE TROPICS: There is now Tropical Depression 10 in the tropical Atlantic. It is expected to become Tropical Storm Julian as it moves northward in the Atlantic. Also, in the Atlantic, there is Invest 97-L and a new Area to Watch in the far east Atlantic.
I’ll have updates on Ida through the day on the App, on the Blog, and on Facebook and Twitter. There will be a LIVE chat on Facebook around 11, where I will answer questions for you in real time.
I’ll have another Blog update tomorrow morning. Stay weather aware.
–Rich