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Ida weakens to tropical storm as it leaves Cancun, other tourist areas behind
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Todd Wilson of Ipswich, Mass., plays with his daughter Nicole, 7, Sunday in a Cancun resort pool as waves from Hurricane Ida crash onto the beach in the background. (AP Photo/Sean Shelton)
It was business as usual Monday in Cancun after the Mexican island resort city narrowly missed getting hit by the full brunt of a category two hurricane over the weekend.
Hurricane Ida passed about 75 miles east of Cancun and Isla Mujeres, drenching tourists on vacation, but causing little damage.
Ida weakened to a tropical storm as it continued plowing north through the Gulf of Mexico Monday. At noon CST, it was 115 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 220 miles south-southwest of Pensacola, Fla.
Earlier projections by the National Hurricane Center showed Ida making landfall near Pensacola late tonight or early tomorrow, but it now appears the storm will hit the mainland somewhere between Mobile, Ala. and Gulfport, Miss. around 6 a.m. Tuesday.
The U.S. Gulf coast is under a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle, La. to the Aucilla River in Florida. The warning includes New Orleans.
Ida was expected to continue weakening as it approached the coast, though it was still packingmaximum sustained winds of about 70 mph. Tropical storm force winds extended out 200 miles from the center of the storm and the Gulf coast already was receiving heavy rain from Gulfport east to Panama City, Fla.
The National Hurricane Center expects Ida to produce three to six inches of rain along the coast, with some areas getting up to eight inches.
“A dangerous storm tide will raise water levels by as much as three to five feet above ground level along the coast near and to the east of where the center makes landfall,” the center noted. “The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”
Heavy rains from Ida in El Salvador caused flooding that killed at least 124 people late last week.
A note to my readers: I will be reporting this week from the hopefully calmer resort of Manzanillo on Mexico's Pacific coast. I invite you to join me as I explore this fascinating city, beginning Wednesday night.
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