Hurricane Ida weakening but still targeting Mobile Bay

November 9, 8:01 AMRaleigh Weather ExaminerAllan Huffman

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“Ida weakening, expected to hit Mobile Bay late tonight”

Ida is quickly transitioning to an extra-tropical cyclone as it’s satellite appearance looks less and less tropical. As of 7am Ida’s winds were down to 80mph and further weakening as the storm transitions to a non-tropical system is expected today. Ida will still spread a swath of strong tropical storm force winds and possibly some hurricane force gusts across the gulf coast later today and tonight as the center of the storm approaches and likely cross the coastline near Mobile Bay tonight after midnight.

The main story from Ida will the interaction with a the polar jet and the blossoming of a large area of heavy rain over the southeast US where widespread amounts of 2-4 inches are possible while isolated locations could see 4-8 inches of rain. The areas with the best potential for the heaviest rains will be the immediate gulf coast where the storm makes landfall and then as the storm interacts with the upper trough and surface cold front across the northern half of Georgia, South Carolina, and southern North Carolina.