Most Viewed Stories
- 'NO FUSS, SIMPLE FOOD': Local chefs to bring new concept to Destin Commons just in time fo
- POLICE BLOTTER: Okaloosa County lawman finds himself on the wrong side of the arrest
- Man-of-war invade Destin: Wind, warm water most likely draws purple blobs to beaches
- Casting call for VH1 docu-series
- ‘BACK TO WORK’: With the election (mostly) concluded, incumbents, newcomers lo
Ida gains steam as she trudges toward Gulf; region still in the cone (with LATEST TRACK)
Ida continued intensifying Saturday and threatened to regain hurricane status as it headed for the Yucatan Channel and the southern Gulf of Mexico.
A hurricane hunter aircraft found Ida to be stronger than earlier believed with top winds of 70 mph as of the noon advisory. The storm had maintained its intensity as of the 3 p.m. advisory and the National Hurricane Center said Ida could become a hurricane again Saturday night before entering the gulf.
The storm was moving north at 9 mph. It's central pressure was 990 millibars.
Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings were up for the entire northwest Caribbean from Mexico and Cuba to the Cayman Islands.
Forecasters expect Ida to pass through the Yucatan Channel and move into the southern gulf on Sunday, slowly building its strength. Once in the gulf, however, the storm is expected to lose punch as colder air and water temperatures rob the system of its energy source.
As Ida moves farther north the hurricane center predicts it will become "extra-tropical," meaning it will no longer have the structure of a tropical storm. Later in the forecast period Ida may turn back and head toward the Caribbean.
But forecasters added there was a chance Ida could reach the northern Gulf Coast later in the week.
