re: Storm Update:- Ida Moves Away - The Cleanup Begins...

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Great job at the NHC then.

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For anyone that doesn’t want to sit in that inevitable clusterfrick…

Take the Cameron exit in Sulphur and head down Highway 27 south all the way to Holly Beach. Drive to the Gulf of Mexico until you can’t drive anymore. Take a right and head to into Port Arthur and it’ll spit you out on the other side of Beaumont.

It’s not much to look at and you’ll be in the middle of a marsh for about an hour or so, but it’s better than sitting in a 4 hour gridlock on the interstate in Orange, TX.

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Cuban radar data and reports from an earlier Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter mission indicate that Ida's inner core structure continued to improve after the release of the previous advisory package. An eye became apparent in radar imagery before the center reached the Isle of Youth, and the final fix from the Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft reported a closed 24-n-mi wide eye. The aircraft measured winds to support hurricane intensity shortly before 1800 UTC, and during the final northeast eyewall pass, and flight-level wind data support increasing the intensity to 70 kt, which is used as the initial intensity for this advisory.

The upper-level outflow has expanded over all but the southwestern portion of the circulation, and the upper-level wind pattern is forecast to continue to improve overnight and early Saturday. Once Ida moves past western Cuba and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, it will be moving through a very favorable oceanic and atmospheric environment consisting of high ocean heat content waters, low vertical wind shear, and a moist low- to mid-level atmosphere. These conditions are likely to result in a period of rapid strengthening during the next 24 to 36 hours. In fact, with the higher initial wind speed, the intensity guidance has significantly increased this cycle, and the bulk of the guidance now brings Ida to category 4 intensity. The NHC forecast explicitly calls for rapid intensification during the next 24 to 36 hours, which is supported by several of the dynamical models, the LGEM model, and high probabilities of rapid intensification indicated by the SHIPS and DTOPS RI guidance. The NHC forecast is near the IVCN multi-model consensus aid, but is lower than HCCA and LGEM. It should be noted that some fluctuations in intensity are possible as Ida nears the northern Gulf coast due to possible eyewall replacement cycles. In addition to the expected increase in strength, the dynamical model guidance again calls for Ida's wind field to expand while it moves over the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, there is higher-than-normal confidence that a large and powerful hurricane will impact portions of the northern Gulf coast by late this weekend and early next week.

Ida has wobbled a little right of the previous track, but the longer term motion continues to be northwestward or 320/13 kt. The steering currents remain well-established as a strong deep-layer ridge over the western Atlantic should continue to steer Ida northwestward across the Gulf this weekend. Ida will approach the western portion of the ridge after landfall, and this should result in a slower northward motion by day 3. After that time, a short-wave trough over the central United States is expected to cause the system to turn northeastward. The track guidance remains in remarkably good agreement through landfall along the northern Gulf coast, and there is higher-than-normal confidence in that portion of the track forecast. However, users are again reminded to not focus on the exact details of the track forecast as storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts will extend far from the center.

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140mph off the Coast

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