Carl “Courage” LeBlanc
August 26, 2021
Ida now forecast to be major storm at landfall
August 27, 2021
A Hurricane Watch has been issued for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes ahead of Tropical Storm Ida. It is now forecast to be a hurricane early Saturday in Gulf of Mexico. Landfall in Louisiana is a little later, now Sunday evening as a Cat 2. Preparations should be completed Friday and Saturday, as conditions will deteriorate through the day Sunday. Forecasts indicate maximum sustained winds projected at 110mph at landfall – that’s only one mph shy of Category 3 intensity.
At 1100 PM EDT (0300 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Ida was located near latitude 18.6 North, longitude 80.5 West. Ida is moving
toward the northwest near 12 mph (26 km/h) and this general motion should continue over the next few days. On the forecast track, the center of Ida will pass near or over the Cayman Islands during the next few hours, the Isle of Youth and western Cuba Friday, and over the southeastern and central Gulf of Mexico Friday night and Saturday. The system is forecast to approach the U.S. northern Gulf coast on Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher gusts. Ida is forecast to become a hurricane over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico in a day or two with additional strengthening expected thereafter. Ida could be near major hurricane strength when it
approaches the northern Gulf coast.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 mb (29.71 inches).
The Storm Surge Watch has been issued from Sabine Pass to the Alabama/Florida border including Vermilion Bay, Lake Borgne, Lake
Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Mobile Bay
A Hurricane Watch has been issued from Cameron, Louisiana eastward to the Mississippi/Alabama border, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and metropolitan New Orleans.
A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued from the Mississippi/Alabama border to the Alabama/Florida border.
