Ida: Nearing hurricane strength, moving into southern Gulf

November 7, 9:41 PMDallas Weather ExaminerSteve LaNore

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NOAA IR imagery 

Tropical Storm “Ida” steadily gained strength Saturday, November 7. The National Hurricane Center says its maximum sustained winds were at 70mph at 9pm Texas time November 7. This is just below the hurricane threshold of 65knots, which is 74mph. It is moving NNW-ward and will be moving over the Gulf Sunday into Monday.

The storm may briefly reach Category 1 hurricane (74-95mph) status before increasing vertical wind shear begins to impact the storm.

A second factor will be a frontal zone moving over the Gulf by Tuesday. Ida should merge with this front and may bring very heavy rainfall to the central Gulf coast, but the risk of any widespread wind damage is quite low.

It will be rather windy along the Gulf coast due to the interaction between “Ida” and high pressure over the Ohio Valley. All of this action should stay to the east of Texas.