Tropical Storm Ida forms; likely heading for Gulf Coast landfall as hurricane
TAMPA, Fla. - A tropical disturbance located south of Jamaica became Tropical Depression 9 Thursday before strengthening into Tropical Storm Ida just hours later. Forecasters say it could eventually make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast as a strong hurricane.
"This disturbance is drenching, and I mean drenching, Jamaica right now," FOX 13’s meteorologist Dave Osterberg said Thursday morning. "It’s going to start to drift to the north and the west, get into an area that’s a bit more favorable for development. It is expected to develop. It’s just a matter of where, because where it develops is crucial as to where it heads from there."
LINK: Track the tropics on MyFOXHurricane.com
As of Thursday evening, a Hurricane Hunter plane found the system had winds of 40 mph and was moving northwest at 14 mph. Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Cayman Islands and western Cuba.
The National Hurricane Center forecasts Ida will be near major hurricane strength when it approaches the northern Gulf Coast on Sunday, the 16-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall.
"The computer models and just about every single one of them are really kind of all insisting that it’s heading up into the Gulf," Osterberg continued.
LINK: Track the tropics on MyFOXHurricane.com
Meanwhile, two other tropical disturbances are being monitored in the Atlantic. According to the NHC, one has a 40% chance of developing while the other has a 20% of development.
