FAST FACTS ON IDA
6:00 PM CST Sat Nov 7
Location: 19.5°N 84.4°W or 150 miles south of the western tip of Cuba
Max sustained: 70 mph
Moving: NNW at 10 mph
Min pressure: 990 mb

Here is the forecast track for Ida. Not much change in thinking. Ida will thread the needle between the Yucatan and Cuba on Sunday. It will likely become a hurricane tonight, but the peak intensity is not expected to exceed 85 mph. It seems that warm water will overcome the current shear that is affecting the storm.

Ida is expected to slowly weaken as it moves over the southern Gulf. By Monday morning, it will be about 375 miles south of Gulf Shores with top winds of 65 mph. It will likely become extratropical as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast Monday night. Monday evening it will be starting to make a turn to the north northeast as it is 200 miles south of the Alabama coast.

It will turn eastward and weaken on Tuesday, but not before coming with 100 miles of the Orange Beach/Pensacola area. It will be an extratropical of post-tropical storm then with top winds of 50 mph. This means that tropical storm force winds could affect the coast.

Rain will spread into Central Alabama Monday night. The area between I-20 and I-65/85 could receive 3-4 inches of rain from the system, with amounts rapidly tapering to the northwest.

It will be increasingly windy on Monday and Tuesday, with easterly winds shifting to northeasterly and increasing to 10-20 mph, occasionally gusting to over 35 mph.

The rain should end from the west by Tuesday afternoon and high pressure will give us some fine weather for Veterans Day.