Ida takes aim

Posted at 1:57 PM on November 9, 2009 by Paul Huttner (0 Comments)

GOES visible image of Tropical Storm Ida near the Gulf Coast.

Once Hurricane Ida is now Tropical Storm Ida and is expected to track ashore near Mobile Bay along the Gulf Coast early Tuesday morning. As of Monday afternoon Ida is packing 70mph winds and is located about 220 miles south-southwest of Pensacola, Florida.

Ida is only the 10th named storm and just the 3rd hurricane of this year's Atlantic hurricane season. Ida will be the first named storm to make landfall in the U.S. this year. This has been an unusually quiet hurricane season for the U.S. and many systems have dissipated out at sea before making landfall.

Ida is pushing a bit of a storm surge today with water reportedly 3 to 5 feet higher along the Louisana coastline. The main threat from Ida will likley come in the form of heavy rainfall. Rainfall totals of 3 to as much as 8 inches are likely for the eastern parts of the Gulf Coast including Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Surface maps clearly show the circulation around Ida, and radar loops show the spiral rain bands spinning into the coast.

PH

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