Prayers for those in the path of this potential cat 2-3 Hurricane. As of todays projected path, Louisiana is in the center of the cone.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurr...t-louisiana-alabama-texas-mississippi/1006485
AccuWeather forecasters on Thursday said it was becoming much more likely that parts of the central Gulf Coast would need to prepare for a strike from a major hurricane later Sunday or Monday.
The tropical feature meteorologists have been monitoring was designated Tropical Depression Nine by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Thursday, and forecasters said it is becoming increasingly likely that it will eventually strengthen into Tropical Storm Ida, the ninth-named storm of the 2021 Atlantic season.
Tropical Depression Nine was gathering strength over the Caribbean Sea south of Jamaica on Thursday and hurricane hunters from the U.S. Air Force were en route to investigate the system, despite initially sharing a message on Twitter Thursday afternoon that poor weather had caused their flight to be delayed. Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Cayman Islands as well as parts of Cuba.
On Thursday afternoon, the depression was moving to the northwest at a speed of 14 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. It was 100 miles west-southwest of Negril, Jamaica, and 130 miles southeast of Grand Cayman Island.
The latest forecast from AccuWeather meteorologists indicates that a scenario in which the depression will continue to increase in strength and take a path into the central Gulf of Mexico is now more likely than had been discussed earlier in the week. The chances for what will likely be Ida to make landfall in southern Mexico were dimming, with a greater focus now being paid to parts of the western Gulf Coast of the United States.
The pace at which the system strengthens will be key in determining the precise direction it ends up taking, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said.
"The sooner the system strengthens, the more likely it is to take a northwesterly track into the central Gulf of Mexico, rather than a westward track across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and into the southwestern Gulf," Miller explained.
An area of high pressure near the Carolina coast is forecast to weaken just enough to allow the storm to move northwestward into the U.S. The remaining circulation around the high is likely to be enough to keep the storm moving along while over the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm is projected to slice across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where rapid intensification is possible, as has been the case with several notorious storms in recent years such as Hurricane Michael in 2018, which struck the Florida Panhandle, and Hurricane Laura in 2020, which slammed southwestern Louisiana. There were a record 11 named storms that struck the U.S. in 2020.
There have been five named systems that have reached land in the U.S. so far this season, but none were hurricanes at the time of landfall.
AccuWeather forecasters are warning residents and businesses from the Texas coast to Louisiana and the panhandles of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as fishing and petroleum operations, to closely monitor the progress of the developing situation as there may be little time to prepare once the system forms, begins a definitive path and strengthens rapidly along the way.
Rough seas are expected to build outward from the south-central Gulf to the northwest, north-central and northeastern parts of the Gulf Coast and offshore waters beginning on Saturday. Depending on the exact track, size and strength of the storm, conditions may rapidly deteriorate. The first rain bands may arrive along portions of the central Gulf coast as early as late Saturday night or Sunday.
The system of interest was a broad area of showers and thunderstorms south of Cuba as of early Thursday morning. However, satellite images revealed a steady uptick in showers and thunderstorms over the Caribbean since the start of this week, and the system was upgraded to Tropical Depression Nine at around midday on Thursday. Wind shear and dry air on one side of the system had been inhibiting development into early Thursday, but that was beginning to change, forecasters said.
"The atmospheric environment is expected to rapidly become more conducive for this system to organize and strengthen," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said.
Sea-surface temperatures in the northwestern Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico could aid a strengthening storm, as they are well into 80s F in many areas.
"Unfortunately, it just seems like it's making a beeline toward the Louisiana coast," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said on AccuWeather's Weather Insider podcast, cautioning that the system hadn't formed yet early on Thursday so the path wasn't a certainty.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurr...t-louisiana-alabama-texas-mississippi/1006485
AccuWeather forecasters on Thursday said it was becoming much more likely that parts of the central Gulf Coast would need to prepare for a strike from a major hurricane later Sunday or Monday.
The tropical feature meteorologists have been monitoring was designated Tropical Depression Nine by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Thursday, and forecasters said it is becoming increasingly likely that it will eventually strengthen into Tropical Storm Ida, the ninth-named storm of the 2021 Atlantic season.
Tropical Depression Nine was gathering strength over the Caribbean Sea south of Jamaica on Thursday and hurricane hunters from the U.S. Air Force were en route to investigate the system, despite initially sharing a message on Twitter Thursday afternoon that poor weather had caused their flight to be delayed. Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Cayman Islands as well as parts of Cuba.
On Thursday afternoon, the depression was moving to the northwest at a speed of 14 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. It was 100 miles west-southwest of Negril, Jamaica, and 130 miles southeast of Grand Cayman Island.
The latest forecast from AccuWeather meteorologists indicates that a scenario in which the depression will continue to increase in strength and take a path into the central Gulf of Mexico is now more likely than had been discussed earlier in the week. The chances for what will likely be Ida to make landfall in southern Mexico were dimming, with a greater focus now being paid to parts of the western Gulf Coast of the United States.
The pace at which the system strengthens will be key in determining the precise direction it ends up taking, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said.
"The sooner the system strengthens, the more likely it is to take a northwesterly track into the central Gulf of Mexico, rather than a westward track across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and into the southwestern Gulf," Miller explained.
An area of high pressure near the Carolina coast is forecast to weaken just enough to allow the storm to move northwestward into the U.S. The remaining circulation around the high is likely to be enough to keep the storm moving along while over the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm is projected to slice across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where rapid intensification is possible, as has been the case with several notorious storms in recent years such as Hurricane Michael in 2018, which struck the Florida Panhandle, and Hurricane Laura in 2020, which slammed southwestern Louisiana. There were a record 11 named storms that struck the U.S. in 2020.
There have been five named systems that have reached land in the U.S. so far this season, but none were hurricanes at the time of landfall.
AccuWeather forecasters are warning residents and businesses from the Texas coast to Louisiana and the panhandles of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as fishing and petroleum operations, to closely monitor the progress of the developing situation as there may be little time to prepare once the system forms, begins a definitive path and strengthens rapidly along the way.
Rough seas are expected to build outward from the south-central Gulf to the northwest, north-central and northeastern parts of the Gulf Coast and offshore waters beginning on Saturday. Depending on the exact track, size and strength of the storm, conditions may rapidly deteriorate. The first rain bands may arrive along portions of the central Gulf coast as early as late Saturday night or Sunday.
The system of interest was a broad area of showers and thunderstorms south of Cuba as of early Thursday morning. However, satellite images revealed a steady uptick in showers and thunderstorms over the Caribbean since the start of this week, and the system was upgraded to Tropical Depression Nine at around midday on Thursday. Wind shear and dry air on one side of the system had been inhibiting development into early Thursday, but that was beginning to change, forecasters said.
"The atmospheric environment is expected to rapidly become more conducive for this system to organize and strengthen," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said.
Sea-surface temperatures in the northwestern Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico could aid a strengthening storm, as they are well into 80s F in many areas.
"Unfortunately, it just seems like it's making a beeline toward the Louisiana coast," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said on AccuWeather's Weather Insider podcast, cautioning that the system hadn't formed yet early on Thursday so the path wasn't a certainty.
I've been far more miserable here from heat and humidity than any time when I was stationed in the south. Humidity over 100 percent is not fun 
We had one a few years ago. I'd like another one. Someday, hope to move as far north here as possible just so I can enjoy a cooler climate with more snow. Maybe some place like International Falls 
