Ida

Thursday morning may see Ida turn into a hurricane for a brief moment before making landfall. On Wednesday, the disturbance near Nicaragua grew in strength and NHC named it Tropical Storm Ida. It went from 35 to 60 to 65 mph in a matter of about 4 hours.

As of this writing, the system is still over a very warm energy source, with good inflow at the surface and just as good outflow in the upper levels. Because of this , there is a chance Ida could become a hurricane before going ashore over Nicaragua.

It has a few things going for it:.

• Center is over warm waters
• Very little shear over it at the moment

Surrounding Ida, is high pressure to the east and a trough to the north. Models are a bit unsure as to what will happen in the long run.

Working against it:

• For the moment its moving very slow to the northwest.
• It is getting close to land
• If it makes landfall it may rain itself out

In the long run, some models push the system completely over land and falling apart.
Others track it over land, but surviving and emerging near the Yucatan and regrouping into a Storm.
And some, keep it over water with the possibility of getting stronger. For the time being we just need to watch it.

Regardless it will bring plenty of rain to Nicaragua with the danger of mud and landslides. Some models hint at rain totals of over 20 inches in some areas. We can only hope for the best for our Central American friends.