Monday, November 09, 2009

Hurricane Season 2009: Hurricane Ida (Western Caribbean)

Hurricane Season 2009: Hurricane Ida (Western Caribbean)
Tropical Depression Ida was raining over eastern Honduras. The National Hurricane Center's forecast track brings Ida out into the western Caribbean and then near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula over the weekend before taking it into the Gulf of Mexico.

By mid-week next week, Ida is expected to transform into an extra-tropical storm. Right now, the forecast track brings Ida in the direction of Florida's west coast, so residents there should be on guard.

At 10 a.m. ET on Friday, November 6, the airport at Puerto Lempira, Honduras reported rain with calm winds. Roatan also reported calm winds, but no rain and just overcast skies. A number of other cities and towns were also just reporting overcast skies, such as Amapala, Catacamas, Nueva Ocotepeque, Tela and Yoro.

Satellite imagery shows why those locations aren't reporting any rain. A visible satellite image from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-11 at 10 a.m. ET showed most of the clouds and rainfall associated with Ida are located to the northwest, north and northeast of the center of Ida's circulation. At 10 a.m. ET, the government of Honduras discontinued the tropical storm watch for the coast of Honduras from the Nicaragua/Honduras border to Limon.

At 10 a.m. ET, Tropical Depression Ida's maximum sustained winds remain near 35 mph, and some re-strengthening is expected after the center moves back over water. Ida's center was located near latitude 15.0 north...longitude 84.0 west or about 55 miles west of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua/Honduras border. Ida is moving north near 7 mph.

Ida is expected to turn north-northwest on Saturday, November 7 (because of a ridge of high pressure building in over the central Caribbean Sea) as it emerges in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. It is then forecast to brush past the Yucatan Peninsula bringing gusty winds and rains there on Sunday as it continues to move north.

Over the weekend, U.S. residents along the Gulf of Mexico should keep updated on the whereabouts and intensity of Ida as she makes her way north. Storm updates over the weekend can be found at the National Hurricane Center's Web site: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

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